1970-1992

Werner Stumm was an employee at Eawag from his graduation as a chemist until 1956. Then he worked for 14 years as a researcher and lecturer in the field of aquatic chemistry at Harvard University in Boston, USA. From 1970, as the new Director of Eawag, Werner Stumm assigned even more importance to fundamental research than his predecessor, Jaag. He recognised early on that environmental sciences have to be pursued in an interdisciplinary fashion, and so he demanded that that not only chemical, but also geological, biological and ecological aspects should be included. He motivated the researchers to keep an eye on the increasing number of industrially manufactured substances, and he looked for ways to improve analytical procedures. In 1975 the new Ordinance for Waste Water Disposal set clear quality targets for water protection for the first time. Eawag had provided the basis for this, but the ordinance was also a spur to carry out further research on measurable criteria on the basis of ecotoxicology. In response to the reproach that advisory aspects were being neglected, Stumm enhanced the training and continuing education provision, including the introduction of a postgraduate course in Urban Water Management and Water Protection.