Officials with the Madison Water Utility said winter weather and delays in setting up equipment caused them to postpone until this week the beginning of tests on manganese filters at a well on the city's Far East Side.

The filter tests at Well No. 29 were expected to begin last week but will begin today instead, according to Al Larson, the utility's principal engineer.

The well has been shut down because of high manganese levels. During tests of filters, expected to run five weeks, no water from the well will be pumped into the public water supply.

In addition to testing filters, the utility is studying the possibility of drilling a new well. A decision on the fate of the well should come soon after the filter tests are completed.