The latest news from Eawag

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the world came to a standstill – and many lakes became measurably clearer. A global study shows that lockdowns caused water turbidity in lakes worldwide to drop sharply, particularly in lakeshore regions and river mouths, as a result of reduced industry, traffic and leisure activities. 

The sanitation objective of Sustainable Development Goal 6, sanitation for all, is off-track and far from being completed by 2030. Vermifiltration could help address this gap: The nature-based sanitation management system shows increasing promise globally because of its low cost. Researchers at Eawag’s Sandec department visited vermifilter installations in India and Switzerland to examine how local differences influence their optimal design.

Using isotope markers to break down food webs and track changes in them, as well as tracing the pathways and accumulation of pollutants in aquatic organisms – the Otto Jaag Water Protection Prize was awarded in 2025 for two exciting and highly topical doctoral theses.