As the City Council approved spending more than $9,000 for one resident with a contaminated well to be hooked up to public water, City Councilor John O’Hara is waiting on test results to confirm if his well is tainted, too.

O’Hara, who lives on Cottage Place, said last week preliminary tests showed that his well, like the well of his Cumberland Street neighbor, Jim Fahey, is contaminated with coliform bacteria, e-coli bacteria and arsenic. Because Fahey discovered the problem when the city was investigating plumbing problems at the nearby Congin School, the City Council agreed to pay to have him connected to public water.

When the city discovered that sinks and a toilet at the school had been dumping into a brook that runs behind Cumberland Street and that Fahey’s well was contaminated, notices were delivered to residents in the area making them aware of the situation and asking them to contact the city if they have a well.

According to City Administrator Jerre Bryant, no other residents have come to the city, but, he said, the city has no way of knowing if anyone else is on a well.

The Council unanimously gave final approval Monday to spend up to $9,124.76 in order to have Fahey’s home permanently connected to public water before winter. After learning that the well was contaminated, the city temporarily connected the home to public water.

In addition to the money spent, Fahey is asking the city for $20,000 to cover his payments to Portland Water District. The City Council has not yet taken up that request.

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.

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.

The school department is in the process of filing a claim with its insurance company, and, at the same time, Bryant said, the city has put the general contractor, H.E. Callahan Construction of Auburn, and the plumbing subcontractor, Raynor of Jay, on notice.

Bryant said he thinks it’s likely that O’Hara and Fahey have two of the only wells in the area. He said he’s not concerned that, if there are more wells, the city will end up having to spend a lot of money repairing the problem, especially because there still is no proof that the school plumbing was responsible for the contamination.

As O’Hara waits for more test results, he said, he’s not sure what he will do if his water isn’t safe.

“I’ll have to look at what my options are,” he said.