Learning that a toilet at the Congin School was incorrectly plumbed into a brook behind Cumberland Street, the city has agreed to spend more than $9,000 in order to hook one resident up to public water.

After an investigation by the Department of Environmental Protection into plumbing problems at the Congin School in July, the city recommended residents in the area test their well water. The results at Jim Fahey’s house on Cumberland Street showed problems, and now the city is paying.

The tests showed high levels of total coliform bacteria, e-coli bacteria and arsenic in Fahey’s well. The city quickly hooked the house up temporarily to public water. Though the investigation into the source of the contamination is not complete, the City Council gave preliminary approval to spend up to $9,124.76 in order to have Fahey’s home permanently connected to public water before winter.

The city and school department first became aware of the plumbing problem in March, when neighbors reported a nearby brook turning cloudy white. The Department of Environmental Protection discovered the discharge was coming from a sink at the Congin School and the white substance was from paintbrushes being washed in it.

Though school officials believed the problem was solved in March, neighbors called again in July to report the brook, which runs from near the school on Bridge Street down into the Presumpscot River, turning cloudy. More sinks and a toilet were discovered to be incorrectly plumbed, as well.

For the second time in four months, the school department acknowledged that paint originating from a custodian’s sink at Congin School trickled into the brook.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said the city is not admitting guilt yet, but both the administration and the City Council agreed something had to be done for the Faheys before the winter, even if the investigation were not complete.

“There’s a sense of urgency,” Bryant said Monday.

Bryant said the city’s insurance wouldn’t cover the cost because the problem originated on the school department’s property. The school department will pursue an insurance claim, as well, he said, but for now the money will come out of a fund for co-pays and uninsured claims.

“It wasn’t a perfect solution, but at least we didn’t have to leave our house,” Fahey said.

No one from the Department of Environmental Protection returned calls by the American Journal deadline to report on the progress of the investigation.