hole drilled in foot valve?

Last fall when I pulled the drop pipe from my shallow well (Jet pump, 15 ft suction line) I noticed a very small hole in the side of the foot valve body that squirted water from above the closed valve when I lifted out the poly pipe filled with water. This is undoubtedly what was causing the very, very slow loss of pressure that we were experiencing.

Did the valve come this way? Or did someone drill this hole to cause the system to drain itself down to the water level to prevent freezing in the winter? I shut the system down for the winter cause it is a summer only place, but the prior owner was wintering over for a few years.

And if this hole is for "auto-draining" the drop pipe, should I just leave it alone and trust it to drain the pipe, or should I continue to pull the pipe each fall? And if I let the hole drain the drop pipe, will it also drain the pump (1/2 HP Goulds jet), or will I need to continue to pull the plugs from the pump?

Can it be true that no one has ever seen a hole in a foot valve?

It was clearly drilled, and not a crack. My question is "do you think this is a good idea to prevent winter freezing in the drop pipe, or should I replace the valve and continue to pull the pipe each fall?"

Foot valves don't have a hole in them, so you are probably right but..

The water can't drain out of the line unless you introduce air into it above ground. As you see it has worked for X years without pulling the drop pipe.

Hi Gary,

So, if I pull the drain plug from the pump, at shutdown time in the fall, the water in the drop pipe should drain to the water level in the well?

It should but I'd test it somehow in good weather to make sure it worked.

Not a good idea to assume that the pump drained itself. Pulling the bottom most plug is always cheap insurance.

bob...