Hi everyone,
I have a 45 year old domestic well, with a submersed pump. It has a split top well seal that is loose and sort of pushed up in the center slightly, instead of flat, and appears to have had one side of the donut rubber gasket under the top plate split. It looks something like this, except a lot older:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/image/...gqVKlXHH//2Q==

There is chipmunk poop sitting on top of this broken seal!

There is a pipe extending from the pitless adaptor through the center hole. It extends about 3 inches. I looked at well caps and there are new ones that are more like a turtle cap that seal on the outside of the casing, which seems more protective, as they cover the entire top with a solid metal surface. https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/image/...AUUUUBRRRQf//Z


However, the pipe extending from the pitless adaptor must be removed.

Is it safe to get rid of this vertical pipe? Does this pipe extending up from the pitless adaptor have any stabilizing effect? The well is almost 500' deep so there is a lot of weight hanging on the pitless adaptor. I would think this vertical pipe would prevent the pitless adaptor from tilting in the casing. If this is removed would the old pitless adaptor start leaking?

Or instead of the turtle cap, should I just replace the split top seal with an identical new one?

Thank you so much for any help!!
Marilyn

That piece of pipe from the well cap to the pitless adapter is there so the well man will have something to attach to to pull the pump. I can't see what your cap looks like but the simplest thing to to would be to get a piece of PVC pipe and a pipe cap large enough to fit over the well casing and long enough to reach from the top of the pipe to the ground and sit over the pipe and the well casing.

Hi HKStroud! I was hoping you were still here. You helped me before on the well line leak problem. The pictures showed up when I first placed them, but disappeared when I hit save. I tried to attach pictures in various ways, with no luck. I have pictures of the actual well head, if there is a way to send them to you. Here are some links to similar pictures I found on the web: The link below shows a split cap watertight seal, simlar to the one that is currently in place from decades ago.http://www.simmonsmfg.com/index.php/...-drop-pipe/The next link shows a watertight turtle cap, the type I am thinking of using. Since the top is solid, the 3" pipe to the pitless adaptor (the 'lift out device") has to be removed. http://www.simmonsmfg.com/index.php/...t-well-cap-2/I understand that the pitless adaptor has a threaded hole in the top that the vertical 1" pipe is attached to, and that it's somehow used to pull the pump up when necessary. I guess my question is whether that vertical pipe also provides some stability to the pitless adaptor, since the 1" pipe is held firmly in place once the bolts (on the split top seal) are tightened, that rubber donut gasket squeezes out and forms a seal with both the inside of the casing, and also the outside of that vertical 1" pipe.In some diagrams as shown below, they call that vertical pipe that extends out of the seal as the "support pole" as well as the "lift out device". I did a Google search for 'picture of well seal with pitless adaptor'. Here is a link to one of the pictures, calling it a support pole.https://www.google.com/search?q=pict...7c2jzoGZEw%3DI would think that the pitless adaptor might tilt due to the weight of the pipe below, and this vertical extension would service to stabilize and center the weight. It would not carry the weight, but it would help to keep the pitless from tilting... (Maybe?)

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I have a similar setup in my well at a home on the GA mountains. The split top seal is 2 steel plates compressing a rubber donut that is also split. When everything is in place, lift bar and wiring, tighten the top bolts and the seal should be very tight. If it needs replacement, just unscrew the bolts and remove the seal and replace with new. What covers the pit adapter? I have a fiberglass" boulder" that further seals the top and nothing gets on the well cap.