I just purchased a new home in the country. It has a 57ft well with a DEMING JET pump. The ventury is not at the pump, but in the well casing. It was noticed that air was coming out of the faucets (while unpacking!!) then poof, lost the prime on the pump. I added water (about a gallon) to the pump for prime and fired it back up. Once I got all the air out of the system, it went to 50psi and shut off as normal. The cut on is 35psi. My wife than ran the washing machine and I went in to check the system and it was around 20psi. I noticed that air was entering the pump(could hear the cavitation). Then, poof, again lost pressure. I'm told that the foot-valve is below the waterline. The venturi is above the water line. Where is all this air coming from? Yes, I did have a well yeild test done and it passed. So, now what? I'm going to pull the feed line (well to house)and see if I can see anything (replacing the foot valve while the line is out. A friend recommended switching to a submersable pump and junk the JET pump. ANY thoughts, recommendations, experiences deffinately welcome!!!!!

MANY THANKS, Rod

-- Rod Fletcher (nrfletcher@msn.com), February 03, 2002

Answers

crack in the line,,, rust hole in the pipe,, losse fitting,, just gonna have to track it down

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 03, 2002.

Had the same problem a couple of years ago with my shallow well (35 feet)-the pipe just above the foot valve had rusted out. That allowed the water to leak back into the well and caused the pump to lose it's prime. Replaced that section of pipe and put a new foot valve on(foot valves are cheap). Solved the problem. Daryll

-- Daryll in NW FLA (twincrk@hotmail.com), February 03, 2002.

Sounds to me like your water table is dropping below the pick up pipe or you have a leak between the foot valve and the pump. Air entry will not be a problem on the pressure side of the pump.

-- charlie (charliesap@pldi.net), February 03, 2002.

All of the above are possible, but my bet is a hairline crack in the supply line. Unfortunately, the only way to figure out which is the problem is to haul the lines up onto the surface for a visual (and audio-you'll be able to hear where the problem is) examination. GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), February 03, 2002.

WE used to have all kinds of problems with my well pump loosing it's prime- usually about the time I needed to jump in the shower to get ready for work-LOL! We replaced it with a submersible pump and haven't had a problem yet(about 6 yrs). If I remember correctly, it cost about $300 to replace everything- pressure tank, pipe and pump- we did it ourselves- and it was well worth the money to avoid the aggravation.

-- shakeytails in KY (shakeytails@yahoo.com), February 04, 2002.