A sediment filter on a hose is a genuinely useful item with a narrow purpose: keeping grit out of something you would rather not have grit in. The choices are the rating, whether the cartridge is replaceable or the unit is sealed, and where it hangs, and the third of those decides whether it lasts a season or cracks in a month.
Choose the rating from what you are protecting
For a pressure washer pump or a caravan tank, a moderate rating catches the grit and rust flakes that matter without becoming a bottleneck on a long fill. For drip irrigation, the emitter orifice sets the requirement and a finer screen may be needed. For general garden use, almost anything will do because nothing downstream is vulnerable. Very fine cartridges are the wrong instinct: hose pressure and flow are modest, and a fine element turns a five minute fill into a long wait.
Cartridge or sealed unit
Sealed inline units are compact and cannot be assembled wrongly, with no o-ring to leak, and they are replaced whole when spent. Housings taking a standard cartridge cost more up front and less per season, and let you change the media type: sediment now, carbon later if you start filling a pond. On a hose that sees heavy use, the replaceable format is the better economics; for occasional use, a sealed unit is simpler and there is less to store over winter.
Mount it at the tap
The single most common way these fail is being connected part way along a hose so the body lies on the ground, gets dragged over paving, stood on, and eventually cracks at a fitting. Mount it at the tap end where the tap supports it and the joints are not under load. If it must sit at the far end to protect a specific appliance, support it on something rather than leaving it hanging. Keep it out of direct sunlight, which embrittles plastic bodies over a season.
Winter and replacement
Water left inside will freeze and split the body, so drain it at the end of the season and store it dry. Replace or change the cartridge when flow drops noticeably, which is the honest signal, rather than at a fixed date. And remember what it does not do: it will not stop spotting when washing a car, which is dissolved hardness rather than particles, and it does not make water drinkable. Our sediment filter guide covers ratings against typical particle sizes.
Questions people ask about garden hose sediment filter
What rating should a hose sediment filter be?
Moderate for pumps and tanks; finer only where drip emitters demand it. Very fine elements throttle hose flow badly.
Where should it be mounted?
At the tap end, where the tap supports it. A filter lying mid hose gets dragged, stood on and cracked at a fitting.
Sealed unit or replaceable cartridge?
Replaceable is better economics on heavy use and lets you change media type. Sealed units are simpler for occasional use.
Will it stop spots when washing the car?
No. Spots are dissolved minerals, which need deionizing resin. A sediment filter leaves them untouched.