I have a 2 inch shallow well with pump and tank located in my garage. Two lines going in ground to the well. This is on a vacation home and had not been used in almost two years. I visited the property last week, turned the power on to the pump and had water running in less than 10 minutes. Found a leak in the ice maker line so I shut the water off going to the ice maker and found that my toilet was not filling with water but working everywhere else in and around home. Shut power off until I could resolve the toilet issue. The next day turned power on and no water. Got my neighbors water hose hooked up to an outside faucet and primmed my pump and got water going again. Left everything running and returned to the property the next day to find no water again. Shut everything off, tried the water hose trick again and now it will not prime. We can hear the water going straight back down into the ground instead of into the house. Not sure if I have a check valve or not. Two well drilling companies have said that I need to pull the casing and replace the foot valve in the ground. Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

They are correct. However, you can try putting a checkvalve on the suction line. Be a little patient. Might have to prime it three or four times, but will usually work.

Thank you for your reply. I am going back today to see if there is a check valve installed. I have two hoses going out of the pump/ motor contraption that run to the pipes that go into the ground. On these two hoses there are metal connectors that I believe are check valves and I will know for sure by this evening. I have a photograph of this setup but can not figure out how to post. If these are not check valves I will install one before I pull up the foot valve.

Thank you again!