pump will not hold pressure

I have a sta rite anb-30 1/3 h.p. pump on a well x trol wx-202. It is all hooked up to a shallow well with one pipe going outside. The other night my toilet was making gurgeling noises that where soo violent they made the toilet shake. Then the next night the sounds where coming from the kitchen sink. Then the next day the water started spitting out the faucets and it was black, then it just stopped flowing all together. So I went down stairs and shut the pump off, and primed it. When I turned it back on it would hold pressure until I opened the supply valve, then it would drop to zero, and not build back up. I did this a few times and finally I got it to hold pressure. When I went upstairs and turned the faucets on they ran for a couple of minutes then the pressure dropped and that was it. Any help would be great. I just got laid off and can not afford to pay someone to fix this and my family needs water. Thanks!!

Sounds like you just aquired an air leak somewhere in the suction line.

bob...

air leak

any ideas on where to start?

Prime it but watch the water level for like 10 minutes and see if it falls. If it does it could be the foot valve or a leak that allows air in when you use water.

Tighten the fitting and any6 hose clamp on the line into the pump. Pull the drop pipe (down the well) and check all fittings.

Usually if your pipe from the house to the well is Poly, you won't have a problem. If it's galvanized, you may have some holes. If it's PVC, a tree root could break it.

The big problem is, you can't find an air leak unless it leaks water. Air can go through a much smaller hole that water can.

bob...

Thanks for all the info. Looks like Im in over my head. Thank you very much for the info.