On Apr 24, 1:55*pm, "Bob F" wrote:
Tony wrote:
Well..no. *There should be nothing between the pipe and the pump
except 'pipe'. *A checkvalve at the pump only adds uneeded
restriction. *Now there _can_ be a check valve _after_ the pump but
that is usually not done.

My 800' well has a check valve every 100 feet going down, then another
one just before the pressure switch/tank. *My last house was the same
setup. *The pump here, with at least 6 or 7 or 8 check valves and a
1HP pump, even after running constant for about 30 minutes or more,
it still puts out about 15GPM, so if those check valves are doing any
restricting, it's not much. *When I first moved here it put out a full
20GPM. *After a 2 1/2 year drought, it was only putting out about
*10GPM. It's been going up a little each year with average rainfall.

Check valves on the suction side of a pump are probably more of a problem than
on the pressure side. The OP is talking about a shallow well, with the pump
drawing the water up.

OP - Some pumps are self-priming, others are not. Which is yours?

It also sounds like whoever installed all those checkvalves didn't
know what he was doing.

Harry K