Pump won't stay primed

I have been having this problem for a while.

I just shocked my well and was flushing the chlorine out with an out side tap and hose when the pump just sudenly loses pressure. I go and prime it back and no problems, it will run for a few minutes, then cuts out again...no pressure. This went on for a while and finally it wouldn't prime up to enough pressure to maintain a faucet. I could slowly prime it to about 30psi (it would take a lot longer than it should because it usually just shoots right up to normal operating range) but when I turned a faucet on it never even cut back in.

Now I have a lot of sediment in my water, with a 500ft well (yeah lucky me) which apparently fills up overnight within 100ft of the surface. Could this have something to do with the sediment and the pressure tank or the well pump? I installed a simple in-line filter after my pressure switch and there really is a significant amount of sediment and silt or whatever it is. Mostly dark grey colour but sometimes a bit of brown.

If it is a sediment problem, is there some kind of filter that you can put on the well pump itself?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I have some renters moving in in a couple of weeks and would like to get the problem sorted out before.

Thanks,
Daryl

A little more about the system would be helpful.

You said you are priming the pump. Am I to assume you have a jet pump on a well with at best a 100' water level?

As for the inline filter, you are spinning your wheels. Get rid of it and try to get the pump to run long enough to clear the water in the well that you have stirred up by chlorinating.

bob...

Sorry about the lack of info, I'm a novice at best. I don't believe it's a jet pump, the pump is about over 400' down the well. When I metioned 'priming' maybe that wasn't the correct term. I have a little lever above my pressure gauge that you pull up slightly and it 'primes' the system when say the power goes out for a while or something.

Also, the sediment has been there for a couple years now, and the well is only 3 years old. Kinda weird that it started after a year or so of clear water. I do have a neighbor that does a lot of excavating and that might be the cause. Is there anyway that the sediment could build up in the pressure tank and cause this problem? How would I check this? Also, is there some kind of filter that I can put on my well pump to keep the sediment out of the system alltogether? I know that sediment can be very hard on the well pump. Sorry for the lack of info but I'm not at the house right now, only on weekends. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Daryl Cameron

When that little lever turns off the pump for lack of pressure, that says that the pump can't keep up with demand. That in itself can produce sediment. Sediment is usually minerals that build up on the pipes, casing and everything else they touch. When the water level gets dropped from overpumping these minerals can break loose and get pumped into your system. This is a normal situation and it won't hurt anything short of plugging up an aerator.

In line filters are a joke.

bob...