The latest news from Eawag

The water research institute Eawag and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland are part of the new EU project UrbanM₂O. It is led by the Danish Technical University DTU in Copenhagen. The aim of the six-million-euro project is to develop monitoring and modelling-based solutions to combat water pollution in cities – an issue that is becoming increasingly important with the expansion of sponge cities.

A controversial serum has been necessary for the growth of cells in the context of animal-free toxicology research. Eawag researchers have now developed an alternative.

Eawag together with the Department of Forests and Park Services (DoFPS) convened a Workshop on Evidence-Based Decision-Making for Nature Conservation in Bhutan. The workshop brought together representatives from Government agencies, research institutions, non-governmental organizations, and international partners with the aim of strengthening Bhutan’s science-policy interface for environmental governance.

A new dataset on the water quality in Swiss river catchments is now available. CAMELS-CH-Chem incorporates up to 40 water quality parameters for 115 Swiss catchments between 1981 and 2020.

Diseases caused by Legionella bacteria are on the rise, despite national and international efforts to contain them. A joint paper by an international panel of researchers in this field highlights the important steps that need to be taken in the coming years to combat the pathogen.

Surprisingly little is known about the climate history of the greater Tibet-Himalaya region. However, this information is urgently needed to predict how climate change will alter the water cycle there. Information stored in the sediments of Tibet's Nam Co Lake should now allow new conclusions to be drawn. A video presents the project.

At the beginning of the month, Eawag spin-off Ranas celebrated its anniversary. After five years, companies founded at Eawag are ‘released’ from their spin-off status and stand on their own two feet. During this time, Ranas has developed into a successful, independent company that supports clients in implementing campaigns aimed at behavioural change and prevention.

Wastewater monitoring became well known during the coronavirus period from 2020, when Eawag and its partners began monitoring whether and which coronaviruses could be detected in wastewater throughout Switzerland. However, the researchers are now able to make far more statements about the health of the population because other pathogens and traces of medicines and drugs are also being monitored in parallel. The combination of data from both programmes opens up new perspectives.

By the end of the century, water temperatures in Swiss rivers will rise by up to 3.5 degrees if no action to protect the climate is taken. The rivers in the Alps are particularly affected. This is the conclusion reached by researchers from Eawag and the University of Basel in a research project funded by the FOEN.

To curb global plastic pollution and to make plastics safer and more sustainable, countries are currently negotiating a global treaty. A new study with participation from Eawag and Empa published in Nature provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of all chemicals that can be present in plastics, their properties, uses, and hazards. Moreover, the study also provides a scientific approach for identifying chemicals of concern. This allows scientists and manufacturers to develop safer plastics and policy makers to promote a non-toxic circular economy.

Two workshops on urban development and biodiversity with participants from research and politics show how cities can be designed to be biodiversity-friendly, inclusive and resilient.

After water is diverted for hydropower, rivers are often left with very little streamflow for nature. A new report provides an overview.

Microbial communities living deep underground in the groundwater of Lavey-les-Bains remain surprisingly stable throughout the year, even though the composition of the water changes seasonally. This is the finding of a study by Eawag researchers that contributes to a better understanding of geothermal systems and microbial life deep underground.

The Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences have elected eight new members to the Swiss Young Academy, including Abishek Narayan, a Scientist in the Department of Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development (Sandec) at the aquatic research institute Eawag.

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.