What Five Star Filtration does

Five Star Filtration is a small, family-owned water treatment equipment manufacturer headquartered in Conroe, Texas, that designs and produces filtration systems for municipal and industrial water treatment applications. The company originated in 2005 as a subsidiary of Advanced Purification Technologies (APT) and was spun out as an independent entity in 2006 under Stevens-family ownership. It operates without institutional capital, retaining a headcount estimated in the low double digits and maintaining a focused, project-driven business model.

The company's product portfolio is intentionally narrow, built around two proprietary technologies: the Five Star Disk Filter, a stainless-steel system using micron-rated disks for suspended solids removal, and the Five Star Upflow Sand Filter, which uses buoyant media for tertiary wastewater treatment. Both product lines are California Title 22 certified by the California Department of Public Health — the Disk Filter in 2008/2009 and the Upflow Sand Filter in 2011 — qualifying them for water reuse applications in the most stringent U.S. regulatory jurisdiction. Automation is delivered through conventional PLC/relay-based control panels rather than AI- or ML-driven systems, reflecting a traditional industrial-controls architecture typical of the segment.

Five Star Filtration generates revenue through one-time capital equipment sales to municipal utilities and industrial customers, with a reported install base of roughly 40+ disk filter installations and 25+ upflow sand filter units concentrated across the western and southern United States, particularly California, Washington, and Texas. Pricing is project-based, tied to public procurement and engineered-to-order specifications rather than recurring subscriptions or service contracts. The company has no disclosed funding rounds, no institutional investors, and no public revenue figures, and remains a privately held LLC.

Name

Five Star Filtration

Legal name

Five Star Filtration, LLC

Website

https://5starfiltration.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Filtration Equipment

akta.pro primary industry

Filtration (Rapid/Slow Sand, Media, Membrane Pretreatment) (EUANABAB)

Keywords

• Water filtration equipment
• Disk filters
• Upflow sand filters
• Municipal water treatment
• Water reuse systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Conroe

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Industrial Water Filtration Equipment Sales: Sale of specialized filtration equipment including the Five Star Disk Filter and Upflow Sand Filter systems, available in various tank materials (concrete, carbon steel, fiberglass, stainless steel). Equipment is sold as complete systems with associated control panels and installation specifications.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Five Star Filtration designs, manufactures, and sells two proprietary water filtration systems for municipal and industrial water reuse: the Five Star Disk Filter, a continuous-operation cloth disk filter with fixed-disk design and rotating backwash controlled by PLC or relay panels, and the Five Star Upflow Sand Filter, a dynamic bed gravity sand filter with no moving parts in the filter vessel. Both products are Title 22 certified by the California Department of Public Health and are sold as complete systems in concrete, carbon steel, fiberglass, or stainless steel vessels.

Product overview

Five Star Filtration is an industrial water filtration equipment company offering two core filtration products: the Five Star Disk Filter and the Five Star Upflow Sand Filter. Both products are designed for municipal and industrial water reuse applications, with the Disk Filter utilizing cloth media technology and the Sand Filter using granular media filtration. Both products are Title 22 certified for water reuse and can be installed in various tank configurations including concrete, carbon steel, fiberglass, and stainless steel vessels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Five Star Disk Filter A continuous-operation filtration system using a fixed filter disk and rotating backwash controlled by a PLC or relay control panel, with 10-micron solids capture cloth. Each disk can be isolated for removal while the filter remains in operation. All internal and submerged components are corrosion-resistant stainless steel or non-metallic materials. Available in concrete, carbon steel, fiberglass, or stainless steel vessels. Designed for municipal and industrial water reuse applications.
• Five Star Upflow Sand Filter An upflow dynamic bed gravity sand filter designed for removal of suspended and colloidal solids, providing continuous filtered water supply without interruptions for backwash cleaning cycles. The filter vessel has no moving parts, no screens, no level controllers, and no valves to maintain. Available in concrete, carbon steel, fiberglass, or stainless steel vessels. Designed for municipal and industrial water reuse applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Solids capture down to 10 microns without filter mat buildup or run-in time
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• WesTech Engineering: WesTech supplies municipal water and wastewater treatment equipment including sand filtration and disk filtration systems, targeting the same utilities and engineering firms that procure Five Star's equipment.
• Huber Technology: Huber specializes in municipal and industrial water/wastewater treatment equipment including screening, filtration, and sludge handling — overlapping with Five Star's filtration focus and serving the same municipal customer base, particularly in Europe and North America.
• Parkson Corporation: Parkson is a direct competitor in municipal and industrial water filtration, offering sand filtration, cloth media filters, and other tertiary treatment solutions that overlap directly with Five Star's Disk Filter and Upflow Sand Filter product lines for water reuse applications.
• Aqua-Aerobic Systems: Aqua-Aerobic manufactures cloth media filtration, biological treatment, and aeration equipment for municipal wastewater — its OptiFiber cloth disk filter competes head-to-head with Five Star's Disk Filter in tertiary and reuse applications at WWTPs and WRPs.
• Blue Water Technologies: Blue Water Technologies acquired Applied Process Technology (APT) — Five Star Filtration's former parent company — in September 2006 and inherited APT's patented downflow sand filter technology and 250+ install base, making it a directly comparable competitor in continuous backwash sand filtration.

Broad incumbents

• Xylem Inc. Xylem is a global water technology incumbent whose portfolio (including Wedeco, Leopold, and now Evoqua) covers filtration, pumping, and treatment for municipal and industrial reuse applications that compete with Five Star's niche offerings.
• Evoqua Water Technologies: Evoqua (now part of Xylem) is a broad water treatment incumbent offering filtration, disinfection, and reuse solutions across municipal and industrial markets, including disk and sand filter systems that overlap with Five Star's product range.
• Veolia Water Technologies: Veolia is a global broad-line water and wastewater treatment provider whose Actiflo, Hydrotech, and other filtration offerings compete with Five Star in municipal and industrial water reuse, typically as part of larger full-plant contracts.
• Suez Water Technologies & Solutions: Suez provides a broad portfolio of water and wastewater treatment equipment and services, including filtration solutions that compete with Five Star's municipal and industrial reuse offerings, particularly for large-scale turnkey contracts.

Emerging players

• Fluence Corporation: Fluence delivers decentralized and packaged water and wastewater treatment solutions for municipal and industrial customers globally, including filtration and reuse systems that overlap with Five Star's modular continuous-operation value proposition in emerging and underserved markets.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/5starfiltration
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Five Star Filtration