With temperatures expected to turn tropical this weekend, many families with children will be looking to cool off in or around some of Brussels' fountains. However, the fountains on the popular Flagey Square are broken.
The fountains are a regular spot for families to cool down on hot days, but this year – and with a heatwave expected next week – they will have to search elsewhere for some water fun.
"On 1 June, the fountains were supposed to be switched on again, but we then saw that they were broken so not all the water would get back into the circuit," Inge Paemen of Brussels Mobility told Bruzz. It is not yet clear when the fountains will work again.
This is not the first time the fountains on Flagey Square have broken, and there are frequent problems with other fountains in Brussels as well. The fountain at the foot of Mont des Arts has been defective for about three years. Meanwhile, the water level at the Beursschouwburg and the spray fountains in De Brouckère Square were also out of order for some time.
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"The maintenance is too complicated for the city's services and therefore has to be done by an external company," said Brussels city councillor Ans Persoons last month. The works were scheduled to start in late May/early June.
In total, the City of Brussels owns about 50 fountains, which all require significant maintenance. "There are regular technical problems that our services always try to solve as quickly as possible. With some older fountains however, it is no longer possible to make them function. We can't get the internal system to work anymore or they waste too much water."
To get a clearer idea of the condition of the fountains, the City of Brussels has also drawn up an inventory. It describes the history of each fountain, the materials and the maintenance needed.
