Shallow well pump pressure

My shallow well pump puts out minimal pressure to our faucets. My son-in-law (who owned the house before us) seems unfazed, and we depend on him for much of our homeowner issues. I'd like to create more pressure for dishwashing, clothes washing, showers, and outside watering needs. How can this be done?

In addition, my pump stays on a L..O..N..G time before it kicks off.

I am not Bob Vila and don't know much about this stuff right now, but I expect to learn.

Bob Vila isn't a Pump Man either.

It could be the Well not giving enough water to the Pump. If it runs a long time, it's possible the Well just isn't keeping up with demand.

Do you know any more about the system, the Well, the Pump etc?

bob...

And if you have a submersible pump there might be a smallish leak in the drop pipe or a blockage in the pump inlet. Someone should take a look for all these things.

Shallow well pump

Well, the pump is not submersible; it is a jet pump. I don't like the notion of my well being depleted of water, but if it is, it is.

The jet pump could be worn out, the jet partially blocked, or the foot valve inlet.

If dear SIL won't help, I'd cut him outa my will.

Another thing it could be is the water level in the well dropping. This happens to most wells and is a seasonal thing. If you have a shallow well jet pump (only one pipe 1" or 1-1/4" between pump and well) it will only lift water 25 feet max. The closer the water level gets to 25 feet vertically from the pump, the harder time the pump has keeping up.

bob...

It could be as simple as some one (SIL) tried to adjust the pressure switch and it's all out of wack. Or maybe you can turn it up to compensate for friction loss or elevation. As far as running a long time, as long as it does shut off, that's is really important. If you have a large pressure tank sometimes those little jet pumps depending on the model can see to take forever to fill up. To really help you we need to know more information. What brand and model pump, whats the pressure gauge say when the pump starts and stops. If you don't know any info about your well you might be able to find a well log. I know over here in Washington State the D.O.E. has a search engine where you can look up well logs (if recorded) my address or by a map.