Sporadic No Water Well Problems

I have an artesian well with a jet pump - has been working fine. Also have a water softener system - again working fine. Now, all of a sudden, the water is dropping so low that we are losing the prime on the well pump and we have had this happen 3 times in the last couple of months. Have checked all lines, toilet tanks, faucets, etc. The well guy says that our well is OK but we should get a submersible pump - cost about $3k. Will this solve the problem. We did do a by-pass of the water softener system to save water last week and tonight we have not water again - first it was running slow and then is stopped. Do I need a new well??
Thanks for any advice.
Katherine

either the foot valve is bad or you have a hole in a pipe between the foot valve and your house. I would go with a submersible pump, but that is a lot of money. Foot valves are cheap so the mark up is very little pumps are a lot more money so the mark up is a lot more money.

submersible pumps are nice because you don't need to prime them.

Check your well-troll tank to make sure it is ok. You can knock on it to see if it sounds hollow on the upper half. That would be good the lower half would thump.

Thanks Patrick
This is really a dilemna - My water guy came to the house this am and reprimed the pump - he thinks that the tenants are using too much water at the same time - I checked with them and the only water used yesterday morning was 4 showers - no washing machine and no dishwasher.
Our well guy is suggesting a submersible - but did mention the foot valve as well. Do we really need to do both????
Our jet pump is quite old but works fine - This could be a $5k job and we also have the option of hooking into the city water line on the street - probably a $5k job as well.
We aren't sure where we should spend our money to fix this problem.
We have lived in the house for 24 years and never had a water problem - we recently rented it for the first time and this problem has happened 3 times now in 2 months.
HELP.
Katherine

If the water level in the well is just dropping lower than normal, your jet pump may not be strong enough to lift from that depth. A submersible will lift from a lot deeper and does not need to be primed. What is the diameter of the well casing and how deep is it? 3K or 5K sounds like a lot of money unless you are drilling a new well with all that it entails. You can get a ½ HP sub for about 300 bucks. Even with new pipe, wire, pressure tank, and fittings, $1,000 in material would be high.

I would never hook to a rural or city water supply, if I can get adequate water from my own well

You can get a ½ HP sub for about 300 bucks. Even with new pipe, wire, pressure tank, and fittings, $1,000 in material would be high.

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I would say a bit higher were i am. A 40 gal equiv is about $500.

The water level could be lower than usual. I'm sure they also used the toilet before, after, or during the shower being on. Is the toilet old like an old 5gal?
If your pump is that old it could be just worn from old age. I would also assume the foot valve is starting to have problems getting stuck open from time to time.
I would check around for a second quote

Thanks for the replies. We would prefer to keep our well - we get between 30-50 psi flow - the water tastes great and so we are leaning toward the submersible pump. I am going to get another quote or two - but we need to do this quickly as my tenants are starting to get annoyed by the inconvenience.