Water jet

The Water Jet

The Geneva audio-guided tour presents you with the Water Jet, symbol of the city, which rises one hundred and forty metres above the bay and can be seen from everywhere.

Born of a safety valve

The history of the Water Jet begins in 1886, with the construction on the Rhone of a hydraulic plant necessary for the strong industrial development of Geneva. The machine operators noticed each evening an overpressure in the network when they stopped the pumps; to remedy it, a safety valve was installed, releasing a water jet that then rose to about thirty metres. In 1891, the city had the idea of making it a tourist attraction: the jet was moved onto Lake Geneva, in the heart of the bay, and its height increased over the years. Today, it projects the water at about two hundred kilometres per hour and culminates at one hundred and forty metres, propelling half a cubic metre of water into the sky. Become the emblem of Geneva, it embodies the dynamism and the international fame of the city.

What there is to see

The Water Jet impresses with its column of water of one hundred and forty metres, visible from almost the whole city. At the closest, on the jetty, one feels its power and the spray it projects. It is the essential symbol of Geneva, spectacular by day as well as illuminated in the evening, to admire from the quays or the bay.

Practical information

The Water Jet is on Lake Geneva, in the heart of the bay of Geneva. It can be contemplated freely from the quays and the jetty; its operation may be suspended according to weather conditions.

What is the height of the Water Jet?

It rises to about one hundred and forty metres, projecting the water at some two hundred kilometres per hour.

How was the Water Jet born?

From a safety valve installed in 1886 on a hydraulic plant, transformed into a tourist attraction from 1891.