Archive News

July 2, 2025After water is diverted for hydropower, rivers are often left with very little streamflow for nature. A new report provides an overview.

July 1, 2025Microbial 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.

June 26, 2025The 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.

June 17, 2025Researchers 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.

June 12, 2025Many 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.

June 10, 2025A 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.

May 22, 2025At 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.

May 22, 2025With its work, Eawag has made a decisive contribution to achieving a great deal for biodiversity in recent years. Water pollution from nutrients – one of the main causes of biodiversity loss – has decreased significantly in Switzerland, and the restoration of numerous Swiss lakes has improved the quality of habitats for many living organisms. Nonetheless, the challenges remain.

May 21, 2025Tyre abrasion gets from the road into adjacent soils and affects soil organisms. A joint study by the Ecotox Centre, the aquatic research institute Eawag and the EPFL now shows that earthworms avoid soil that is heavily contaminated with tyre particles. However, the particles had no negative effects on the survival and reproduction of the animals.

May 13, 2025The year 2024 was very warm and very wet, especially in early summer. This led to a welcome replenishment of groundwater reservoirs and record hydropower production, but also to severe flooding. In Bern, the focus was on the further expansion of hydropower and the pollution of water resources by pesticides and the "eternal chemicals" PFAS.