40,000 people affected Drinking water undrinkable in nine Geneva municipalities after pipe burst

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

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 by the Geneva authorities to the media on Sunday afternoon. The pipe at Quai Gustave-Ador in Geneva was defective on Sunday night and caused a vacuum in the network, with the result that external elements were sucked into the water network.

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.

Important supply line broken

The incident was reportedly caused by the rupture of an important supply line at Quai Gustave-Ador. This caused a vacuum in the network and material was sucked into the water network from outside, which supplies the nine municipalities.

The authorities are advising people not to use discolored water for the time being. If the water has not been boiled, it should not be used for drinking, feeding animals, washing food or brushing teeth. Clear water can be used for showering and washing, but must be boiled before consumption.

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.

Rush for bottled water

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 water.

Geneva's public utilities announced that an emergency team was being deployed to bring water to the various municipalities.

SDA