Dug well - pressure drops to zero within minutes. Any thoughts?

[Ignatz]

Hello,

My house has a dug well. A couple of days ago the water pressure went to zero while water was being used. I hit the reset on the pressure switch and it happened again a couple hours later. It has been getting worse since. Now pressure begins to drop immediately and is gone within 10-20 minutes even when no water is in use.

As a test, after hitting the reset switch and the pressure came up, I shut off the valve to the house. The pressure still went to zero within half an hour or so.

I would appreciate any suggestions as to what is wrong.

 

[Valveman]

You probably have a leak in the drop pipe down the well. Most likely right where the pipe screws into the pump check valve.