A candle filtration unit of the type having a filter vessel, a wall plate disposed within the vessel and dividing its interior into a lower feed section and an upper discharge section, a plurality of filter candles suspended from the wall plate, a sediment receptacle connected to the lower feed section via shut-off means, and means for supplying cleaning liquid to the upper section to create a backflow through the unit to remove sediment deposited on the filter candle, is provided with accumulating means associated with the upper end of each filter candle to prevent the flow of cleaning liquid into the candles until an adequate quantity of liquid has accumulated in the discharge section and a predetermined pressure differential between the pressure in the discharge section and the pressure in the feed section is achieved.