Story
The story of Jet d'Eau
Geneva's most famous landmark began as a piece of plumbing. In 1886 a hydraulic plant at La Coulouvrenière sent the power of the Rhône to the city's craftsmen. In the evenings, when they stopped their machines, pressure built up, so a safety valve let the excess water escape into the sky, a jet about 30 metres high.
Its beauty was soon recognised, and in 1891, for the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation, it was moved to the Eaux-Vives jetty, where it reached about 90 metres. The present fountain dates from 1951 and pumps lake water. Two pumps send five hundred litres of water per second some 140 to 150 metres into the air, leaving the nozzle at 200 km/h.
At any moment about 7,000 litres are in the air, and the jet can be seen even from planes flying ten kilometres above the city. You can walk out along the stone jetty, but watch the wind: a slight change can leave you drenched.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
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