Replaced 4 year old Aquatec 8800 RO booster pump

[acroholic]

My 4 year old Aquatec 8800 booster pump started leaking slightly (slow drip) where the pump head screws into the pump body. My RODI system was still making 0 TDS product water. Since the pump was 4 years old, I decided to just get a new one instead of trying to repair it, as they are just $99. Wow, what a difference. RO production rates go down in winter, but my production rate from just the pump switch went from about 5 gallons/hour to 7.5 gallons an hour tonight with all things staying the same. It will probably go up a bit more after I switch out the RO unit sediment and carbon filters and the DI resin as well.

I guess the efficiency of these pumps just diminishes over time, or maybe they get clogged up. I do not use an in-line sediment prefilter for the pump. I think I'm going to order one from BRS.

The slowdown in performance of this pump kinda snuck up on me.

 

[bluespot]

That is quite a difference in filtering ability. I would guess that the pumps just slowly weaken over time due to having to produce pressure/working against a load. I think you definitely have a good idea with the prefilters to at least minimize one potential area for wear. I guess I take for granted that my water pressure is 100-110 psi straight from the faucet so no booster needed for me lol.

 

[rjrgroup]

I installed a Big Blue prefilter before my pump so pump has plenty of supply. Inlet and outlet have pressure gauges to display differential pressure on the prefilter.