Village staff told council that Well 8 has been offline since February after routine bacteriological monitoring returned positive results and that initial in-house and contractor disinfection attempts did not fully resolve the problem.
"We did a couple initial rounds of disinfection ... these initial efforts did not resolve the issue immediately," a staff presenter said, describing further work recommended by the village hydrogeologist. The remediation plan includes multiple chemical and mechanical cleaning methods and rebuilding the wellhead at a higher elevation to better prevent contamination.
Staff said the village conducts monthly bacteriological testing on all wells and that repeated failures trigger a regulated remediation process. "We do routine well monitoring for bacteriological testing," the presenter said, adding that the process is regulated and may require disinfection, acid scrubbing and other steps.
The village has 18 wells in its system; staff said this issue affects one well and noted the well field is intended to be redundant. Staff said the rehabilitation work currently delays planned maintenance on other wells and that full return to service requires passing 10 days of two tests per day as required by the health department. Staff estimated the well could be back online in approximately six to eight weeks and that testing would begin in about a month.
The affected well is located north of Forest Hill in an FPL easement. Staff noted some wells beneath the power lines will ultimately have to be relocated outside the easement because overhead lines limit redrilling options, though the other wells in the easement remain usable for now.
Council asked for a timeline; staff reiterated the six- to eight-week estimate and committed to testing progress updates. No formal council action was recorded in the transcript; staff presented the ratification of emergency purchase orders related to well work as an item on the agenda for council consideration.