Well Seal Not attached!!

Hi everyone.

I've been reading this forum for information on how to disinfect (great site) and finally made the attempt -- unfortunately I ran into a situation that concerns me.

My well is located in the bottom of a five foot deep cistern. In the center of the cement floor of the cistern is a hole that my pressure tank pipe goes down into. It is there, about a foot down that the well seal is located. When I first started working on it, I thought the seal was at the level of the cistern floor -- this though was just 12+ inches of mud and clay (followed by a sheet of plastic that I believe someone put in to keep the junk out).

Anyway, to make a long story short, I turned off power, unattached the pressure tank and noticed that the seal was not attached to anything. It just wiggles loosely on the pipe. I can pull the pipe up and it comes with it.

I am concerned why this is. A couple of things come to mind immediately.

1. The seal is too small for the well cavity
2. The seal is rusted out and falling apart
3. There isn't a well lining

I am pretty sure there is a well lining because the well seal seems to rest on something when I lower the pipe back into the ground.

Before I go and remove the old seal and put a new one on, is there anything that I should be concerned about? Also, how difficult is it to remove an old seal -- there appears to be a hard sealant around the wires to seal the wire opening.

Thanks in advance!

I hope it wasn’t installed that way. Your casing may have dropped or broken, if you have any. That is not a sanitary way to have it. The best thing would be to pull the pump, and see what it would take to maybe add enough casing to bring the well head above the ground level. You could put in a pitless adapter in the side of the new casing in the vault, and cement seal everything below the pitless. This is a job where you really should call somebody that knows how to seal a well in your area. Not only does a badly sealed well contaminate your water, but it can contaminate the surrounding groundwater as well.

Thanks for the great advice. Yeah, I agree -- I think the best bet would be to have a professional take a look at it and update it as necessary. Now that I think of it, the way the piping is installed, I don't think it fell into it's current position (the piping is straight instead of crooked as I would imagine it would be had the casing broke.) Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if the casing broke and the person who 'fixed' it simply just adjusted the pipe instead of repairing it).

I'll call the well guy tomorrow -- (at least the system is almost completely uninstalled and will save me some money there!)

Thanks!

Man I'd like to see a picture of that. What state are you in?

Ha! I'm in Ohio.

svacha said:

I wouldn't be surprised if the casing broke and the person who 'fixed' it simply just adjusted the pipe instead of repairing it).

Click to expand...

It wouldn't be the first time either.

So post a picture.

Here it is:

The hole looks square. I can't see the 'seal' but it looks like you'd lift with the nipple handle. Good luck with that.

Yeah, a mess isn't it? We've only lived in the house a couple of years and haven't needed the well except to water the yard. We've been thinking of utilizing it more which brings me to where I am now. I don't know how old it is, but the house is almost 100 years old (old farm house). I have a lot of clean up to do just to get to the point of seeing everything, but it looks as if the square hole is made of bricks, two layers deep. If you look at corner of the hole on the right of the picture, you can see the curve of the seal in the mud.

Based on the suggestions I've received, my plan is to clean the cistern floor then pull the assembly out of the well shaft. Once I do this, I can examine the well lining to see if there is any and if so, take the appropriate steps to raise it a good foot or two above the cistern floor. Next, I will remove the old seal, put on a new one, reinstall the pump assembly, and test it. If everything is working correctly then I will disinfect it and later test the water.

Does it sound like I am missing anything?

Thanks!

I don't recall where this pit or "cistern" is but it may be on top of a hand dug (4' to 6' diameter) well and the drop pipe is in the center of the 'roof' with the cistern on top of it. There shouldn't be a sanitary seal on that type of well, and there won't be a casing.

It seems that the cistern is to hold water from an artesian well that overflows into the cistern.

How does water get out of the cistern"? A cistern is an atmospheric tank.

Is this in a basement or outdoors etc.?

Hmm. What I can tell you is this cistern is outside and is aprox. 6 feet in diameter and five feet deep. It is bricked in and the floor is cement. You may be on to something regarding it being on top of a hand dug well, however there is a sanitary seal attached to the pipe (but not actually sealing anything). When I lift the pipe, the seal comes with it. I can also tell you that there is a large pile of dirt next to the cistern which I believe came from them drilling the well. Also, thrown on top of the pile of dirt is a old discarded iron hand pump.

Sorry if this is confusing. As I mentioned, this is an old home and I am guessing that there have been some changes made to the cistern/well over the last 100 years or so.

Thanks again!

Now I'm sure it is a hand dug well. I'd be careful things didn't get shaky and collapse while you're in there. Once you clean the dirt out you should be able to pull the seal up out of the hole. I doubt the well is real deep. The pitcher pump probably didn't require a casing.