well pit or dug well?

Buying a forclosed home that has what I think is a well pit. It is listed in the disclosures as a dug well but when I opened the cover of the well there is a ~3' concrete casing and a dirt floor. There is a ~1/2" black plastic tube sticking out of the center of the floor. The floor was dry even after heavy late winter rain and runoff (the house is in Maine). There is a jet pump in the basement. I understand that this was common at one point in time. Water quality came out good. Is it expensive/necessary to raise the well cap?

The biggest problem with a dug well is sealing it off. If it's in a well pit, you could pour a lit for it with a piece of pipe in the center that you could put a well seal in for your droppipe to come through. That would make for a sanitary seal in the pit.

Thanks for the imput. Maybe I should clarify, I was told that by the builder that did the renovation 3 years ago that the well is a 4" drilled well that was drilled by one of the previous owners relatives. THis is why there is no paper trail. I have a couple of questions. Should I be able to dig around the black hose and find the top of the casing if there is one? Is it expensive to raise the casing above groun (no specifics - are we talking $1000 or $5000). Also there is a jet pump in the basement and I was thinking of dropping a submerged pump into the well at the same time. Is that possible retroactively? Expensive? Thanks in advance, I have no experience with any water other than city.

Aaron

sammy - not sure - I had to reenter a post and your response got deleted.

Where in Maine are you?

I'm not a well guy but I live in Maine and well pits and driven wells are very common here. From what you are describing though, it sounds like you have a shallow driven well in a well pit.

Standish. The house is partially on ledge, a portion of the basement is rock. There is an exposed piece about 15ft from the well.

aland said:

Standish. The house is partially on ledge, a portion of the basement is rock. There is an exposed piece about 15ft from the well.

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I guess you don't have a driven well then

I'm in Lyman. The entire surrounding area where I am is very sandy.

Yeah, it's either ledge or sand in Southern Maine. Can I do any damage if I dig around in the well pit to try to uncover the top of the casing? I'm just guessing I follow the vent tube down?