losing pressure

please help,
my layout is that i have a goulds submersible pump 120 feet down, that feeds an airiator tank. then i have a pump on groung level pulling water from the airiator tank to the softner then to the house. i also have pressure tanks on each pump too. my problem is that the submersible pump goes on and off with pressure drop. it sounds like the water is going back down to the pump when it shuts off. are the baffles in the pressure tank bad? or is a check valve bad in the pump? i don't know if there is one in the pump or not. if so can i add one above ground on the 1 1/4 pvc line? is there something else i am missing? thanks for your help.
you can email me also at dcarchidi@tampabay.rr.com
if you need more info please ask. thanks dominic

If it is going back down in to the well you may have a leak or a bad footer valve. A bad / ruptured bladder tank can also cause the on and off symptom of the pump.

footer valve

what is and where would the footer valve be. and it's function is like a check valve?

thanks

Yes it is a check valve that most times is on the top of the pump preventing the water from going back down into the well when the pump shuts off. It is more likely you have a leak than a bad footer valve in my opinion. What type of pipe is going down the well? Why do you say the water is going back down into the well?

leak?

you can hear the water going from the bladder tank and pipes down to well. the pipe is 1 1/4 pvc coming up from the pump. it would be cheaper to put in a check valve first then a bladder tank 2nd right. is that how you would do it?

Is it PVC or CPVC going into the well, what color is it??

If it is definitely going back down the well You need to pull the pump and find the source / cause of the leak.