After a burst pipe Tap water undrinkable for 40,000 Genevans in nine municipalities

After a pipe burst, the drinking water in nine Geneva municipalities is contaminated. Around 40,000 people are affected. They should boil the water before using it.

Keystone-SDA

30.09.2024, 06:09

SDA

This article was last comprehensively updated at 18:29.

The tap water of 40,000 inhabitants in nine Geneva municipalities in the Rive Gauche is undrinkable due to a broken drinking water pipe. Thônex, Choulex, Corsier, Vandoeuvres, Collonge-Bellerive, Hermance, Anières, Puplinge and Cologny were affected on Sunday.

This was announced to the media by the Geneva authorities on Sunday afternoon. The incident was reportedly caused by the rupture of an important supply line on the Quai Gustave-Ador. This led to negative pressure in the network and material was sucked into the water network from outside, which supplies the nine municipalities.

Specifically, bacteria from the air may have contaminated the water, as Frédéric Schulz, who is responsible for drinking water at Geneva's public utility company, explained to the media.

As a result, a large amount of water leaked out, whereupon the valves were closed as a first measure. The network was then vented.

Only boiled water

The authorities issued a warning: If the water had not been boiled, it should not be used for drinking, feeding animals, washing food or brushing teeth. Tap water should not be drunk at all.

The health risks are vomiting, diarrhea and gastrointestinal complaints. If the symptoms persist, a doctor should be consulted.

Bacteriological analyses are currently being carried out, but these will take some time, as cantonal chemist Patrick Egger explained to the media. The first results will be available on Monday morning, but the full results will not be known for another three days.

Late on Sunday afternoon, no exceptional influx of sick people was reported at Geneva University Hospital (HUG) or other hospital sites in the canton.

There was a rush on the stores that were open on Sunday, as a correspondent for the Keystone-SDA news agency observed. People in the affected communities stocked up on bottled mineral water.

Emergency plan of the Geneva municipal utilities

Geneva's public utility company announced that an emergency team was being deployed to bring water to the various communities. This involves supplying water from cisterns, but also from taps at hydrants. Water bottles could also be distributed to the population via the civil defense.

According to the authorities, schools are to remain open on Monday. However, pupils should bring their own drinking water bottles, they said. The serving of meals in the canteens should remain guaranteed.

The warning was issued far too late, criticized the president of the affected municipality of Puplinge, Gilles Marti, in the "19:30" programme on French-speaking Swiss television RTS, citing an email from a resident. Everyone had had enough time to drink undrinkable tap water.