The impeller no problems so far after using for about a year, with sand about 8 months
The impeller was stuck once but mostly due to roots from the lucky bamboo I have inside rather than sand
The not so nice thing would be the first column of my filter box would have plenty of sand.... only recently there is not much sand
Note: this is not real sand but more of manufactured sand which I believe is used more for construction
The pump model is sunsun jtp 5800 if you are interested