A practical selection guide — matching screen type to the intake (open ocean, beach well, gallery), debris and biofouling load, fish-protection duty, sediment and materials.
Intake Screening for Water & Desalination Plants
Choosing an intake screen is a balance of capacity, debris and fouling load, fish-protection duty, sediment, maintenance access and materials — and it is inseparable from the intake type. This guide walks the decision: entrance-flow versus outside-flow, active versus passive, and how open-ocean, beach-well and infiltration-gallery intakes each demand a different screening philosophy.
The factors that decide the screen
Open ocean vs beach well vs gallery — each needs a different screen philosophy.
Heavy weed/jellyfish favour centre/dual-flow band; light loads suit passive.
316(b) sites default to passive wedge-wire at ≤0.15 m/s.
Seawater favours passive screens with Cu-Ni and chlorination.
Turbid water needs air-burst or water-jet cleaning.
Super duplex 2507, 904L or Cu-Ni 90/10 for submerged screens.
| Factor | Implication |
|---|---|
| Biofouling | Heavy in seawater; passive (wedge-wire) screens preferred — no mechanical parts to foul; chlorination or copper-nickel common |
| Entrainment / impingement | A regulatory driver; passive screens at ≤0.15 m/s slot velocity are the default solution |
| Corrosion | Super duplex (2507), 904L or Cu-Ni 90/10 are standard for submerged screens |
| Sediment loading | In turbid coastal waters, passive screens may need periodic air-burst or water-jet cleaning |
| Intake type | Open ocean vs beach wells vs infiltration galleries — each demands a different screen philosophy |
Continue across the screening knowledge base
Through-flow screens set across the flow — traveling, band, drum, bar.
Read MoreCylindrical passive screens parallel to the flow, outside-to-inside.
Read MoreThe full seawater intake hub.
Read MoreOffshore submerged intakes and velocity caps.
Read MoreNaturally filtered, low-SDI subsurface intakes.
Read MoreThe screening hub for the seawater intake series.
Read MoreOur engineers select, size and material-match intake screening — intake screen selection and the full train — for your debris load, fish-protection duty and downstream desalination process.
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