The latest news from Eawag

A team of seven current and former Eawag researchers will receive the Swiss Chemical Society’s Sandmeyer Prize in 2024 for the development of advanced wastewater treatment for the degradation of micropollutants using ozone. And the most amazing thing is: Just about 15 years have passed between basic research and large-scale technical implementation. This incredible timetable was only possible thanks to the wealth of knowledge already available at Eawag and the fact that interdisciplinary collaboration is a matter of course at the Swiss aquatic research institute.

This research project explores vermifiltration as an alternative method for wastewater treatment. The aim is to fill knowledge gaps.

Chemical engineer Tove Larsen made an impact at Eawag over the course of 24 years. Besides being the first woman to hold a managerial position at Eawag in the field of urban water management, she was also initiator and head of the Novaquatis cross-cutting project, group leader and member of the Eawag Directorate. Her areas of responsibility have included urine source separation, the Blue Diversion toilet, the Water Hub and Wings.

On ETH Day, Charlotte Bopp was honoured with the Otto Jaag Water Protection Prize for her dissertation. In January, she will also receive the ETH Medal for her work.

A comparison of three Swiss lakes with the Great Lakes of North America show that the quagga mussel is spreading with a similar dynamic.

Professor Bernhard Truffer of the Eawag Water Research Institute is among the "highly cited researchers 2023".

Professor Dr Rik Eggen worked at the aquatic research institute Eawag for three decades, including 16 years as deputy director. Now he is entering retirement.

Over the next 20 years, Austria and Switzerland will be investing more than CHF 1.4 billion in flood protection and ecological enhancement measures on the Alpine Rhine. As well as protecting the Rhine valley against flooding, the aim is to promote careful management of groundwater resources. With a new method, scientists from Eawag and the University of Neuchâtel are providing support for International Rhine Regulation planners.

The mandate for the “Water Quality” and “Process Engineering Micropollutants” platforms supported by Eawag, FOEN and VSA has been extended by an additional four years.

Thanks to many years of research at the aquatic research institute Eawag, biologist Stefan Diener and environmental scientist Bram Dortmans know how to turn organic waste into valuable feed with the help of black soldier flies. Together, they have founded the spin off Eclose to put their expertise into practice.

In just 16,000 years, more than 500 cichlid species, distributed throughout the entire food web, have evolved in Lake Victoria. This explosion of biodiversity was made possible by repeated cycles of fusion and diversification in evolutionary lineages, as researchers from Eawag and the University of Bern have described in the “Science” and “Nature” journals. The results underscore that it is not just species that need protection, but entire “species swarms”.

There are many challenges that face cities in the era of climate change and rising population density, including heatwaves, floods, water shortages, loss of biodiversity and increasing demand for energy. Eawag is researching how these problems could be mitigated using blue-green infrastructure.

The ETH Board announces the appointment of Sara Marks as a new member of the Eawag Directorate. On 1 November, Sara Marks will replace Tove Larsen, who will retire at the end of October 2023.

During prolonged droughts, the drinking water supply for the affected population is critical. Water filters are of enormous importance in such emergencies to prevent diseases. However, often it is not the distribution of filters that is lacking, but the fact that they are not used consistently in everyday life. Researchers at the Aquatic Research Institute Eawag have analysed the reasons for this in Northern Kenya.

At today's Eawag Info Day, the Aquatic Research Institute outlined the steps that need to be taken to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Timely analyses of the bacterial community in wastewater treatment plants enables changes to be detected and remedied before cleaning performance suffers.