Science that matters

Researchers from the Ecotox Centre, Eawag and the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland have tested combined biological and chemical online monitoring as an early warning system at a municipal wastewater treatment plant. The system is able to detect peak loads of micropollutants in treated wastewater and identify toxic pollutants in real time. In this way, it can contribute to improving wastewater management.

Many bacteria produce a protein complex to inject poison in their neighbouring cells. This was previously thought to eliminate their competitors. But now researchers at Eawag and ETH Zurich have shown: The killer bacteria can act as biological predators that feed on their prey.

A sudden drop in temperature in Lake Geneva over the Whitsun weekend is leaving swimmers feeling chilly: within a few days, the surface water temperature near the city of Geneva fell by around 8 degrees. This is due to a natural phenomenon that can be observed impressively on the Alplakes platform.

At its meeting of 21/22 May 2025 the ETH Board appointed Dr Thomas Hofstetter (*1969), currently Senior Scientist and Private Lecturer at ETH Zurich and Head of the Department Environmental Chemistry at Eawag, as Adjunct Professor in the ETH Department of Environmental Systems Science.