Broken Water Main in Fürstengraben: Cause Resolved / Road Closure Can Be Lifted Over the Weekend

Following a break in a drinking water pipe in Fürstengraben, the cause of the problem was located near Fürstengraben 26 (Goethe Laboratory); the damaged section of pipe was taken out of service, thereby stopping the water leak.

The construction company is currently working on installing a new service line. Fortunately, this new line can be routed through an unused gas line, allowing further work to take place in the sidewalk area. This may result in temporary changes to traffic routing on Fürstengraben. However, a complete closure is not necessary.

As a result, a second lane can be temporarily opened this afternoon (October 2), allowing traffic to flow in both directions over the weekend. Starting Monday, the current single-lane traffic configuration will resume. The work is expected to be fully completed by the middle of next week.

On Wednesday (September 30, 2026), a defect in the drinking water network was discovered in the Fürstengraben area. Since then, Fürstengraben has been closed to traffic heading into the city between Pulverturm and the Botanical Garden. Traffic heading out of the city is flowing normally.  

The damaged section is located in a pipe that branches off to a property on Fürstengraben. This branch could be shut off separately. Therefore, the remaining work will not affect the drinking water supply to the other residents. Furthermore, based on the nature of the damage and the components involved, there is no connection to a drinking water disruption that occurred at the Pulverturm earlier this year.

The defect in the drinking water main became apparent after the Thuringian University and State Library (ThULB) detected moisture in its basement and reported it to JenaWasser. The water leaks were quickly brought under control and caused no damage.

The JenaWasser Special-Purpose Association asks for your understanding regarding these restrictions.