To examine the graded filtration properties of tandem mesh filters installed in front of the pump and behind the pump in actual irrigation projects and enhance the sand interception efficiency of the filters, orthogonal tests and full-scale tests were conducted to evaluate the filtration performance of the filters, under three influent sand content levels, four screen aperture sizes and three sand grading types. The findings indicate that increasing the sand content will accelerate the blockage of filter screen and force some sediment particles larger than the screen aperture pass through. When the amount of coarse-grained sediment increases, the influence of primary filtration becomes more pronounced. The variation rate of median particle size and maximum particle size of outlet sediment ranges from 5.1% to 13.0% and 1.7% to 17.6%, under various screen aperture settings. The extreme deviation analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are adopted to examine the impact of different factors on the sand interception rate, and the primary determinants are found to be the screen aperture, sand grading and sand content. When the median particle size of influent sand is 0.50 mm and the sand content is 0.20 g/L, the optimal screen aperture combination of the filter behind the pump is 0.25 mm × 0.16 mm. Through the analysis of the sand interception of graded filtration, it is found that the sediment interception is related to the aperture of filter screens at all levels. The selection of the filters installed in front of the pump with a screen aperture range of (0.49-0.78) d50 and the filters installed behind the pump with an aperture range of (0.32-0.50) d50 is advantageous in enhancing the sand interception rate of the filter and extending its operational lifespan.