Attribute Schema Library
Attribute schemapool, spa & irrigation

Pool Filter Attributes (Pool, Spa & Irrigation Distribution)

A pool filter is the pressure vessel on the equipment pad between the pump and the returns. Three technologies share the category and do not share a rate: high-rate sand, vertical-grid D.E., and cartridge. Buyers are pool builders, service companies, and commercial aquatics contractors, most ordering through SCP, Superior, or a regional specialist alongside irrigation lines.

The data is hard for a specific reason: the number that sells the filter is not the number on the box. Filtration area is on every listing. Design flow rate, media charge, valve inclusion, and element-removal clearance live in the installation manual as a PDF table. And flow does not follow area — Pentair's datasheet rates the CC 150 (150 ft²) and the CC 200 (200 ft²) at the same 150 GPM.

Variant explosion does the rest. One 30-inch tank ships top-mount with a 2 in valve or side-mount with none, in 1.5 in and 2 in plumbing, and each keys to an element three aftermarket brands number differently. Catalogs inherit the manufacturer's title and lose every distinction.

Core

Every SKU needs these. Without them the record is not a product, it is a row.

Filter Type
enum
High-Rate Sand

The first facet on every rail. Determines rate, micron performance, media cost, and cleaning labor. Nothing else compares across types.

Effective Filtration Area
number · ft²
4.91

Drives sizing against pool volume and turnover. The NSF data plate value, and the number every sizing calculator asks for first.

Design Flow Rate
number · GPM
98

Must be matched to the pump. Cannot be derived from area — manufacturers cap models below the NSF ceiling.

Maximum Working Pressure
number · psi
50

Tank rating the installer checks against system head. Governs relief valve and lid clamp selection.

Tank Diameter
number · in
30.5

Sets the pad footprint and is how sand filters are named and shopped in the trade ("the 30-inch").

Port / Plumbing Connection Size
enum · in
2 in

Determines whether existing plumbing lands. 1.5 in and 2 in tanks look identical in a photo.

Installation Type
enum
Inground

Above-ground and inground tanks are not interchangeable — different pressure duty, plumbing, and pad height.

Tank Material
enum
Fiberglass-reinforced polypropylene

Fiberglass-reinforced polypropylene vs polymeric resin vs stainless drives chemical resistance and commercial acceptance.

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN)
identifier
S310S

The only reliable key across manufacturer price files, aftermarket cross-refs, and warranty claims.

GTIN-12 (UPC)
identifier
610377036474

Required for retail and marketplace item setup. Missing GTIN blocks the listing outright.

Country of Origin
enum
United States

Needed for customs, tariff classification, and government/municipal aquatics bids with domestic-content clauses.

Differentiating

What buyers actually compare on. This is where catalogs win or lose the filter.

Valve Mount Position
enum
Side Mount

Top mount vs side mount changes the valve, the plumbing run, and the pad layout. Not a cosmetic variant.

Valve Included
boolean
false

Decides whether the filter is installable on arrival. The single highest-return field in the category.

Media Charge Required
number · lb
500

Sand and D.E. ship separately and by weight. Counter staff need it to build the order, not calculate it.

Nominal Micron Rating
number · µm
20

The clarity argument. Sand 20-40 µm, cartridge 10-20 µm, D.E. 2-5 µm — the reason a buyer pays up.

Vertical Clearance for Element Removal
number · in
56

Overhead room needed to lift the cartridge or grids out. A filter can fit the pad and still be unserviceable.

Replacement Element Part Number
identifier
C-7470

Keys the recurring cartridge and grid sale. Buyers shop the element number, not the tank.

Compliance & identifiers

Standards, regulatory data, and the identifiers channels reject you for missing.

NSF/ANSI/CAN 50 Rated Filtration Rate
number · GPM/ft²
20

The listed rate a plan reviewer checks. Standard caps sand at 25, D.E. at 2.5, cartridge at 1 GPM/ft².

The fields that aren't in the schema at all

What most pool filters catalogs are missing.

The table above is the schema most catalogs already have. These are the attributes that usually aren't in it — each one surfaced by a signal from the live market rather than by an audit of what's already there. This is what Anglera's Schema Foundry does on a real catalog, in this category.

Supplier signal
+ Valve Included / Valve Mount Position

Hayward's 30 in ProSeries ships as S310S (side mount, valve sold separately) and S310T2 (top mount, 2 in VariFlo included) under near-identical titles. Most rails expose neither field.

Filter arrives with no multiport. Pool is down, valve is backordered, freight paid both ways, and the service company blames the counter.

Supplier signal
+ Vertical Clearance for Element Removal

Pentair's manuals publish it per model — 56 in for CCP240 up to 74 in for CCP520, plus 6 in around the tank. Distributor listings carry overall tank height only, which is a different number.

Filter installs under a soffit or shed roof and the cartridge cannot be lifted out. Service callback and a relocated equipment pad on the dealer.

Search signal
+ Replacement Element Part Number

Buyers search C-7470, PCC80, or FC-1976 against catalogs keyed only to 'Clean & Clear Plus 320' and get zero results, then buy the element from a marketplace seller instead.

Forfeits the aftermarket cartridge revenue — the annual repeat sale — while keeping the one-time low-margin tank.

Review signal
+ Media Charge Required

Sand filter listings give tank diameter but not the 250 / 300 / 500 lb sand charge. Counter staff look it up per order or size it from memory.

Sand shorted on the truck and the crew is idle, or a surplus pallet ships that nobody will pay freight to return.

Competitor signal
+ NSF/ANSI/CAN 50 Listed Values

NSF 50 requires a data plate carrying filtration area, required clearance, max design flow and working pressure. Catalogs carry a bare 'NSF Certified' checkbox and none of the numbers.

Submittal fails plan review for a commercial or municipal job. The RFQ goes to whoever could produce the listed values.

How Schema Foundry finds these

Messy in, governed out.

The same value, spelled every way pool, spa & irrigation suppliers spell it. A filter only works once they agree.

Filter Type
D.E.DEDiatomaceous EarthDiatomiteD.E. Vertical GridPerlite/D.E.
Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.)

'DE' and 'D.E.' split into two facets. A buyer filtering on one never sees the other half of the assortment.

Effective Filtration Area
50 sq ft50 SQ. FT.50ft250 Sq. Ft.4.6 m²50
50 ft²

Euro-sourced tanks arrive in m². A unitless '50' cannot be sorted or bound to a numeric range slider.

Port / Plumbing Connection Size
2"2 in2in FPT2.0 inch50mm2" Union
2 in

50 mm is not 2 in. Metric tanks take a 50 mm union; a 2 in slip fitting will not seal on it. Never normalize the two together.

Valve Mount Position
Top MountTop-MountTopmountTMTop Mount Valve
Top Mount

Abbreviations fragment the facet on the exact field that decides whether the valve and plumbing fit.

What buyers ask

Every one of these should be answerable from the attributes above. If it isn't, that's a gap.

  • What size filter do I need for a 20,000 gallon pool on an 8-hour turnover?
  • Does this come with the multiport valve or do I order that separately?
  • Is this the top mount or the side mount version?
  • How much sand does the 30 inch tank take?
  • Which cartridge does this filter use — is it the C-7470?
  • How much overhead room do I need to pull the cartridge out?
  • Is this NSF 50 certified for a commercial pool, and what's the listed rate?
  • Is the plumbing 1.5 inch or 2 inch?

What channels require

The same SKU, different mandatory fields per destination.

POOLCORP B2B (SCP / Superior / Horizon)
Manufacturer Part Number (MPN)Filter TypeEffective Filtration AreaDesign Flow RateValve IncludedInstallation Type
Amazon Business
GTIN-12 (UPC)Manufacturer Part Number (MPN)Filter TypeEffective Filtration AreaCountry of OriginReplacement Element Part Number
Home Depot / Lowe's item setup
GTIN-12 (UPC)Filter TypeInstallation TypeTank DiameterDesign Flow RateReplacement Element Part Number
Commercial plan review / health dept submittal
NSF/ANSI/CAN 50 Rated Filtration RateEffective Filtration AreaDesign Flow RateMaximum Working PressureVertical Clearance for Element Removal

Pool Filters data, in practice

Why doesn't design flow rate scale with filtration area?

Because the tank's internals and plumbing cap it. Pentair's Clean & Clear datasheet rates the CC 150 (150 ft²) and the CC 200 (200 ft²) at the same 150 GPM — the extra 50 ft² buys longer runs between cleanings, not more flow. Separately, NSF/ANSI 50 permits cartridge filters up to 1 GPM/ft², but manufacturers rate individual models well below it: Clean & Clear Plus 320 is 120 GPM on 320 ft², roughly 0.375 GPM/ft². There is no formula that gets you from area to flow. Source Design Flow Rate per model from the datasheet and store it as its own attribute. Never compute it.

What's the difference between 'NSF Certified' and the NSF-listed values?

NSF/ANSI/CAN 50 requires a data plate on the filter identifying the manufacturer and contact information, model number, effective filtration area, required clearance, maximum design flow rate, working pressure, and steps of operation. It also requires the manual to carry a design head-loss curve and a parts list. A catalog carrying only a boolean 'NSF Certified' flag has the badge and none of the numbers a plan reviewer actually asks for. Carry the certification and the listed values as separate attributes — the flag sells nothing on a commercial submittal.

How do I handle sand, D.E. and cartridge on one rail when their rates differ so much?

Keep Effective Filtration Area in ft² and Design Flow Rate in GPM for all three. What differs is the rate per ft², not the units — so store that as its own attribute rather than letting it hide inside the type. High-rate sand runs about 20 GPM/ft² (Hayward S310S: 4.91 ft², 98 GPM), vertical-grid D.E. about 2.0 GPM/ft² (Pentair FNS Plus: 24 ft², 48 GPM), and cartridge well under 1 GPM/ft². NSF/ANSI 50 caps them at 25, 2.5, and 1 GPM/ft² respectively. Done this way, a 4.91 ft² sand tank and a 320 ft² cartridge tank sort correctly against the same pump.

Which attributes actually drive returns in this category?

Valve Included and Valve Mount Position, by a distance. Hayward's 30 in ProSeries ships as the S310S (side mount, valve sold separately) and the S310T2 (top mount, 2 in VariFlo included) under titles that differ by one character. Vertical Clearance for Element Removal is second: Pentair's Clean & Clear Plus needs 56 in (CCP240) to 74 in (CCP520) of overhead to lift the elements, plus 6 in around the tank. A filter that fits the pad but not the soffit is a guaranteed callback. Both fields live in the installation manual, not the price file — which is exactly why catalogs don't have them.

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