Over the past 20 years, researchers have attempted with limited success, to develop a general correlation for permeability loss within a deep-bed filter. The research presented here yields a unique result by rigorously developing a filtration model that focuses on the effective surface area as the dominant factor causing permeability loss. Both a constitutive relation and a geometric interpretation are developed to report study the effective surface area. The resulting macroscale equations accurately model the permeability reduction by incorporating the lower scale mechanisms. The model was tested using the specific process of water injection into a sandstone formation? with experimental variables of salt concentration, pH, and concentration of influent fines. Postulated forms of the constitutive relations were verified through these experiments. By accounting for the changes in effective surface area, the model uniquely and accurately describes the permeability loss within a deep-bed filter.