Groundwater modelling, a new power station and 943 million litres of water
The annual professional development event organised by the Hydrogeology & Geothermal Energy division of GEOTEST AG brought around 25 participants to the city of Fribourg in the Three Lakes Region on 11 and 12 September 2025. The two-day programme offered insights into regional infrastructure and provided an opportunity for professional exchange.
On the first day, participants visited the district heating plant and water supply facility of IB Murten.
Officials from the two plants demonstrated how wood chips from regional sources are used to produce heat and what technical processes are necessary to ensure the supply of drinking water for the city and surrounding area.
This furnace generates district heating for the Murten area...
... using wood chips from the region.
Particularly impressive was the combination of local energy and water supply with demanding technical, ecological and organisational requirements – from the operation of the heating plant to the treatment of lake water, which supplies two-thirds of Murten’s drinking water.
The drinking water consists of purified lake water, spring water and groundwater.
The second day was devoted to presentations by internal experts and discussions. Employees from various GEOTEST AG locations presented current projects and methods in the fields of hydrogeology and geothermal energy – from groundwater protection and well construction to pumping tests and the modelling and dating of groundwater.
The diversity of topics highlighted the broad methodological expertise within GEOTEST AG: analytical modelling, practical field work, geochemical dating, and conceptual approaches to assessing groundwater systems complement each other and create valuable synergies between the company’s locations and competence areas.
The focus was on professional and personal exchange – with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the methods and activities of other teams and making targeted use of this knowledge.
Finally, Gaël Micoulet (Groupe E) provided insight into the Schiffenen–Murten energy project, a plan to exploit the difference in elevation between the two lakes by means of an underground tunnel and a new hydroelectric power plant.
The professional development day demonstrated impressively the diversity of topics, methods and skills in the field of hydrogeology and geothermal energy – and the importance of exchanges among the company’s locations in order to apply and further develop this knowledge in a targeted manner.
