Original Membrane 560016

I replaced my auto-shutoff valve and RO membrane because my purifier was continuously leaking (previous membrane was only 2 years old). Afterwards the purifier continued to leak. I called Watts Premier technical support who was VERY helpful in troubleshoot the problem. After doing a thorough cleaning of the housing, replacing the old "needle-type" bypass valve, replacing the tank (was 10 years old and slowly leaking air anyways), double checking the RO GPD rate versus flow restrictor pairing (restrictor should be orange for 36 GPD), and swapping the old auto-shutoff valve back and forth with the new one I purchased from Watts Premier, it became clear that the check valve itself was not working (biggest indicator being that the tank drains itself when you shut off the incoming water). So I eventually discovered from Watts technical support that the check valve is built into the RO membrane (the one I just bought here). If you look inside the end of the RO membrane, you can see the check valve as a "white cross". Even though I bought the membrane here on Amazon, Watts Tech Support sent me a new check valve in the mail (no charge). I removed the old one with needle nose pliers (see photo) and pressed the new one into the membrane. Problem solved!Watts Premier tech support mentioned these RO membranes have a "dry shelf life" of 2 years, but didn't say why. I'm wondering if the check valve on my last 2 RO membranes failed because the shelf life was exceeded. Unfortunately with a failed check valve running water continuously, it likely prematurely expired my carbon filters, not to mention the impact on my water bill. And no telling how long even the previous RO membrane was having this problem (I didn't notice the problem right away since the tank has pressure even when the system continuously leaks). I bought that previous one at Costco - which no longer stocks them very likely because of the shelf life issue.Lesson Learned...Buy your membrane directly from Watts Premier (premierh2o). The extra $5-$10 is money well spent if you consider the cost of your water bill, your time troubleshooting, and replacing all the carbon filters that have prematurely expired. Plus they are super helpful and will stand behind anything you buy from them. My purifier is 10 years old and they were still more than happy to help me and send me free parts.

I should have been more careful in ordering. I found that this had a higher GPD rating than the one I was replacing so I needed to order a new flow reducer to account for that. Fortunately Watts advised me that I could go ahead and install the membrane and then install the reducer later, when I received it (a week or so was OK). Watts seems to have outrageously long wait times for customer phone service but once you get through to them they are helpful.

I ordered 2 membranes and one has failed the first day and the second has failed a week later.

Filter works great, easy (if you're careful) to install. It makes water good enough to not turn the Yerba Mate green when we brew it, which is saying a lot. That's actually how we can tell it's time for a replacement. The only other water that comes close is distilled, which is kind of expensive and clunky to produce with a small distiller. I drink gallons of this RO water and love it. The Watts Premier system has worked and lasted very well.

This is the exact same unit as the original membrane we purchased directly from Watts Premier. Fits perfectly in our Watts Premier RO unit we purchased back in March 1998! Compared the one we pulled out to replace with this one, identical!! This is a way better price than we paid years ago.Can't ask for more!! Installed 72 hours ago, no problems at all. Water tastes just great!! So happy they offer this on Amazon. Will order this way from now on!!

Did a complete replacement of all the filter elements in my Watts Reverse Osmosis system. In addition, I found that the bladder in the holding tank had also failed. Ordered replacement and flushed system as described in the manual and the entire system works super. Will stop buying so much bottled water now that the system is again working just like it did when new.

It works as advertised.

The membrane satisfies my needs. I thought purchasing the larger membrane would reduce the amount of time and frequency of filtering action but seemed to make no difference. The filter still does its job very well.