Geneva is famed for its giant Jet D’Eau fountain.
And for about 10 minutes or so on Wednesday, Meltham village centre had its very own man-made geyser.
That’s because contractors working on gas pipes below Slaithwaite Road fractured a water pipe sending water shooting up to 25m (82ft) into the air.
The Jet D’Eau fires water up to 140m (459ft) into the air above Lake Geneva by comparison – but that’s on purpose.
The accident happened at the junction with Mean Lane, at around 4pm on Wednesday.
But soggy workers quickly isolated the water supply and fixed the pipe.
The spectacular blunder was filmed by James Hamby, who works at road surfacing firm D Haigh, a short distance away.
Mr Hamby, a lorry driver, said: “I think they burst it with a digger. They managed to turn it off and then it went off again.
“It’s was unbelievable. It had quite some power.”
A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said: “It was actually Northern Gas Networks that damaged one of our water pipes whilst carrying our gas works which caused it to spray up.
“Once we arrived on site, they had repaired it and no homes went without water.”
Northern Gas Network (NGN) has denied its workers, who were replacing an ageing gas mains, caused the accident.
NGN site manager Steve Storey said: “Although our team didn’t cause the water leak, they were in the right place to help stem the flow of water.
“I’m pleased to say that no one was injured during the incident and that our gas work is continuing as planned.”
Fountain facts
- Jet D’Eau, Geneva – 500 litres of water per second are fired to a height of 140m. The fountain was originally installed in 1886, a short distance away, shooting water up to 30m high.
- Old Faithful, Yellowstone Park, USA – This natural geyser fires as much 32,000 litres of boiling water up to 56m (185ft) high. Its name comes from its reliability; its erupts every 94 minutes.
- The Great Geysir, Iceland – The word geyser derives (‘geysa’ means ‘to gush’ in Icelandic) from this geological feature which shoots hot water up to 70m.
- King Fahd’s Fountain, Jedda, Saudi Arabia – Donated to Jedda by the Saudi king, the world’s highest fountain shoots water up to approximately 300m (984ft).
