The bag filter system functions based on the concept of microfiltration, where liquids pass through the miniscule, permeable pores within the bag. A micron is short for one micrometre, and this is the unit of measurement which describes the pore size of a bag filter. One micron is a unit of length equal to one millionth of a metre, using the symbol: μm. The smaller the micron rating, the finer the particles it will remove. Filters with a low micron rating will filter more particles than a bag filter with a higher rating. To give another perspective, individual particles smaller than 30 microns are considered too small to view without a microscope. Choosing the micron of a filter bag depends on the smallest size of particle that needs to be filtered from the water. Therefore, you would have to consider the most common types of contaminants that will need to be filtered. For example, a 1 micron filter bag will be able to remove some types of bacteria and parasites, extremely fine dirt, silt, asbestos, and other particles. A 10 micron filter bag will remove some unseen particles from water, but not bacteria or viruses because they are too small. The width of a human hair is roughly 100 microns, meaning a 100 micron filter bag will capture larger dirt and silt particles. A 1000 micron filter bag can typically remove larger particles like beach sand, fertiliser, fibreglass insulation, grain dust, ground limestone, and others. This object list is not 100% precise as particle sizes can vary depending on factors such as how the products have been processed. The efficiency of each Aquastream bag filter is targeted towards specific particles that are larger than the pore size of the filter bag. The micron ratings of our filters range from 1 to 1000, which is generally considered to encompass the standard range of sediment water filtration.