filtration

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The process of passing a liquid or gas through a material that traps solid bits or impurities and lets the clean part through.

   Grammar: Names the process, not the device: water filtration.

   Patterns

   • filtration of something
   • filtration through something

   The city treats its drinking water with sand filtration.

   Filtration removes tiny particles from the swimming pool water.

   The coffee machine uses paper filtration to catch the grounds.

2. 2noununcountablebiologymedical

   The work done by the kidneys when they remove waste and extra water from the blood.

   Grammar: Used in biology and medicine, as in kidney filtration.

   Patterns

   • glomerular filtration
   • kidney filtration

   Kidney filtration cleans about a liter of blood every minute.

   Doctors measure the rate of filtration to see how well the kidneys work.

   Damage to the kidney can slow filtration of waste.

3. 3noununcountablecomputingfigurative

   A step in a system that sorts information or items so that only the relevant or acceptable ones remain.

   Grammar: Figurative or technical, as in spam filtration.

   Patterns

   • filtration of something

   Email filtration moves suspicious messages into a separate folder.

   The site uses content filtration to hide unsuitable pages.

   Careful filtration of applicants saved the panel hours.

Common combinations

water filtration

The village installed a water filtration system.

air filtration

Good air filtration reduces dust in the workshop.

filtration system

The aquarium's filtration system needs cleaning monthly.

filtration plant

Water passes through a filtration plant before reaching homes.

glomerular filtration

Glomerular filtration takes place in the kidney.

membrane filtration

Membrane filtration can remove bacteria from water.

Synonyms and how they differ

straining

Straining is the plain word for pouring something through a sieve, while filtration sounds more scientific and covers fine particles.

purification

Purification means making something clean by any method, but filtration is one specific way of doing so.

sifting

Sifting applies to dry material such as flour, whereas filtration usually deals with liquids or gases.

screening

Screening is a wider word that includes checking people or items, while filtration is about separating particles.

Opposites

Word family

filter verb

to pass through a filter

filter noun

a device or material that traps particles

filtrate noun

the liquid that has passed through a filter

filterable adjective

able to be filtered

Commonly confused: filtration or infiltration? filtration or filter?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “filtration”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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