Officials with the Madison Water Utility said Thursday they plan to abandon Well 3, the oldest and most problem-plagued of the city's drinking-water wells.

The well, at the corner of First Street and East Johnson Street, serves much of the East Isthmus area. It has been out of service since September because of high levels of carbon tetrachloride, an industrial carcinogen. Water from the well, which was drilled in 1928, has also measured high for other contaminants such as manganese.

David Denig-Chakroff, utility general manager, said staff will recommend to the water board at its May meeting that the well be abandoned. He made the announcement at an East Isthmus neighborhood meeting which was scheduled to discuss the utility's plans to find a site for a new well in the area.

Previously, utility officials said the well would only be used in case of an emergency, such as multiple fires. But Denig-Chakroff said Thursday that a recent study showed adjacent wells can provide enough water to serve the area, even during emergency situations, until a new well can be brought into service in 2012.

"It will never be used again," Denig-Chakroff said of the old well. "The wicked witch is dead."

Denig-Chakroff said one of the reasons the utility is comfortable with abandoning the well is a vote this week by the water board to install a $2-million filter on Well 29, a year-old well that has been shut down because of high manganese levels. That well will be back in operation in 2008 and water from the filtered well can be used to serve the East Isthmus while a new well is being built, Denig-Chakroff said.

But information at Thursday night's meeting showed building a new well in the East Isthmus area, the site of numerous abandoned factories and old landfills, is not going to be easy.

Steve Gaffield, project manager for Montgomery Associates, a consulting firm hired by the utility to help find a location for a new well, said the job is going to be a challenge because of the history of the area and the resulting high levels of contaminants.

Gaffield added that the process will also be challenging because it represents the first time the water utility has committed to involving the public in a well-siting process. In seeking a consultant to oversee siting and building the new well, the utility emphasized that setting up extensive public participation would be a crucial part of the task.