Healthy water resources - balancing the needs of humans and the environment
Eawag News 70e, June 2011
complete issue [pdf, 3.5MB]
complete issue as leaf-through catalogue [5.6MB]
Editorial
A 75-year high-wire act
Rik Eggen
75 Years Eawag
Aquatic research and water protection: ongoing challenges
Andri Bryner
The history of Eawag reflects an increasingly
integrated approach to water protection: It has come to involve not just the
improvement of treatment methods for wastewater and drinking water, but early
detection of problems and prevention; not just the management of emergencies,
but efforts to understand fundamental processes; not just a national focus, but
an international perspective. Even after 75 years of research, teaching and
consulting, the protection of water resources remains an ongoing challenge. [...]
Supplying arguments and explaining the bigger picture
Interview with Ueli Bundi: Andri Bryner
Rural engineer Ueli Bundi contributed
significantly to Eawag’s development, and reputation, for many years. He joined
the WHO International Reference Centre for Waste Disposal – based at Eawag – in
1972. He was a member of the Eawag Directorate from 1990, serving as Deputy
Director from 2000 and Director ad interim from 2004 to 2006. Ueli Bundi is
currently a member of the Steering Committee of the National Research Programme
“Sustainable Water Management”. Here, he looks back. [...]
Growing appreciation of the value of a precious resource
Interview with Janet Hering: Andri Bryner
Janet Hering has been the Director of
Eawag and Professor of Environmental Biogeochemistry at the ETH Zurich since
2007 and Professor of Environmental Chemistry at the EPF Lausanne since 2010.
Here she explains how Eawag is pursuing the goals of “provision of water for
human welfare and protection of water for ecosystem health”. [...]
Water quality
Do transformation products pose environmental risks?
Kristin Schirmer
Technical and natural processes such as
irradiation with ultraviolet light lead to the transformation of chemical
substances in aquatic environments. But are environmental risks reduced as a
result? Drawing on knowledge of transformation processes, and using chemical
and biological analytical methods, Eawag is developing ways of answering this
question. [...]
Drinking water microbiology: from understanding to applications
Frederik Hammes
Good-quality drinking water contains a wide
variety of naturally occurring microorganisms. In fact, microbial processes
play an important role in drinking water treatment. However, water quality can
be adversely affected by contamination with pathogenic bacteria. New methods
permit improved monitoring of drinking water – and a better understanding of
fundamental microbiological processes. [...]
Wastewater management
Strategic planning of urban water infrastructure
Max Maurer
Sustainable strategic planning of
Switzerland’s drinking water supply and wastewater management infrastructure
has to take future demand and uncertainties into account. Rather than aiming to
reduce costs as far as possible, sound solutions seek to optimize benefits over
the entire lifespan and are adapted to local conditions. There is no
“one-size-fits-all” solution for the country as a whole. [...]
Combined efforts to improve sanitation
Christian Zurbrügg
One of the main causes of diarrhoea and
high infant mortality in developing countries is poor sanitation. The challenge
for applied research in this field is to develop technological and planning
solutions which are adapted to local conditions. This can only be achieved by
collaborating closely with NGOs, local communities and the authorities. [...]
Cleantech for wastewater treatment of the future
Tove A. Larsen
In wastewater
treatment, environmentally sound and resource-efficient technologies should
also exploit the resources contained in wastewater itself. Radically new
approaches such as urine source separation and the recovery of nutrients for
urine based
fertilizers point the way to a future which goes beyond conventional sewers and
wastewater treatment plants. [...]
Aquatic ecology
Think globally, act locally
Jukka Jokela
Die aquatischen Umweltwissenschaften
stehen heute vor der grossen Herausforderung, die Lebensräume der
Binnengewässer zu renaturieren, damit deren Ökosystemdienstleistungen auch für
künftige Generationen zur Verfügung stehen. Dabei spielen lokale Populationen
eine zentrale Rolle. Denn sie bilden das Fundament eines funktionierenden
Ökosystems. [...]
The future of water in a rapidly changing world
Janet Hering
Society depends
both on the direct use of water – for water supply, irrigated agriculture,
waste assimilation, hydropower and navigation – and also on ecosystem services
provided by the water environment. Safeguarding the provision of these
ecosystem services will require that direct human needs for water are met in
ways that minimize adverse impacts on the water environment. [...]