Abstract: A disc filter has been rapidly and widely applied in the irrigation field in recent years owing to its composite three-dimensional filtering and the filtering characteristics of both screen filter and sand filter. Therefore, it has presented a promising application prospect in the very broad filtration system worldwide. However, the head loss of the disc filter can increase sharply within the critical range in a short time, due to the complex channel structure and uneven channel clogging during operation. Therefore, frequent backwashing can increase the water volume and energy consumption, and leading to the low operating efficiency of the whole micro-irrigation system. Thus, it is a high demand to elucidate reasons for the head loss increasing sharply of the disc filter. This study aims to avoid the steep increase in head loss for the higher operation efficiency of the filtering system, the hydraulic and filtration performance of the disc filter was tested on five flow velocities (0.37, 0.40, 0.43, 0.46, and 0.49 m/s), five sand concentrations (0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25, and 0.30 g/L), and five compositions of median particle sizes in sand (49, 66, 82, 100, and 127 μm). Some indexes were determined, including the head loss, the sand interception, the particle size of intercepted sand, and the position distribution of intercepted sand in the laminated channel of the filter under different working conditions. The methods for calculating the head loss were established under the clean and sand water conditions using regression analysis, respectively. A Malvern particle size analyzer was utilized to determine the sensitive particle size, which was caused by the fluctuation of the head loss under the different flow velocities and the particle size of laminated intercepted sand. In addition, the position distribution of intercepted sand was also characterized by an optical microscope. The results showed that the average local head loss coefficient was achieved at 290.60 under the clean water condition. It illustrated that the head loss was only related to the effective water-crossing area. The correlation between the head loss and flow velocity, and sand concentration was high (R2>0.90) under the sand water with different gradations. Moreover, the sensitive flow velocity of head loss outstandingly increased by 0.37, 0.40, 0.43, 0.46, and 0.49 m/s, respectively, when the sand size in sand water was in the range of 0-50, 50-75, 75-100, 100-125, and 125-150 μm. There was a strong correlation between the head loss and sand interception, and sand size was greater in the sand water, where both were less affected by the flow velocity. Furthermore, the fine sand with 0-65 μm easily passed through the channel without any interception, whereas, the sand with 65-100 μm was intercepted by the laminated channel. There was a ratio of 1:1.8 between the actual filtration accuracy of the lamination and the diameter of the inscribed circle in the minimum section of the channel. Specifically, the sand with the size range of 100-125 μm was possible to enter the laminated channel. Correspondingly, the sand was easily accumulated at the inlet of the channel, indicating the relatively low sand intercepted capacity of the filter. By contrast, the sand with 125-150 μm cannot enter the laminations. In conclusion, the finding can provide a strong reference for the rational configuration and use of disc filters under different irrigation parameters and water quality conditions, such as the flow velocity, sand concentration, and size composition.