By Kerri Pepoy,Staff Writer

PARIS – A second town well has been thoroughly cleaned and is being tested for bacteria and residual chlorine before it is brought back online, Steve Arnold, manager of the Paris Utility District, said Friday.

The cleaning of the No. 5 well was completed earlier this month and contamination tests are ongoing, Arnold said. The No. 6 well was cleaned, tested and brought back online in December after contamination tests came back negative. Both wells are off High Street.

“We’re systematically working our way through the system,” Arnold said.

After a water test came back positive Nov. 9 for E. coli bacteria, indicating fecal matter, the state ordered all 1,000 or so Paris customers to boil their water before drinking it. The boil-water order was lifted Nov. 16 once the water system was chlorinated and retested.

A Connecticut firm was hired to clean the No. 5 and No. 6 wells, a project that will cost roughly $25,000.

Arnold said the source of the contamination still has not been determined, although there are several theories, including holes in the reservoir cover that allowed bacteria into the 2.5 million-gallon reservoir off East Oxford Road. Another theory is that E. coli was drawn into one of the two wells by pumping.

The system will be continually chlorinated for an indefinite period until the state tells the district the process can be discontinued. That won’t happen until the contamination source is identified and remedied.

The state also asked the district to complete an internal reservoir inspection. The district has been working with engineers for the past couple of months to complete that process, said Arnold.

Arnold said the Hooper Ledge reservoir, a tank on Hooper Ledge Road that was taken out of service 15 to 20 years ago, is being inspected and evaluated. “We’re in the process of making a determination if there’s any material in it, what kind of shape it’s in,” he said. “We’re hoping we can utilize that reservoir while we have the (East Oxford Road) one offline.”

Arnold said if the Hooper Ledge reservoir is tapped, the East Oxford Road reservoir will then be drained and inspected. The district may refurbish, downsize or discontinue the reservoir.