Archive News

August 30, 2018A long-term study of Switzerland’s major watercourses has been continuing for almost 45 years. An evaluation of the time series shows that as the climate is changing, so are geochemical processes. Most of the measuring stations show an increase in the concentrations of bicarbonate. The changes are caused by increases in temperatures, the presence of nutrients in the lakes and the acidity of the soil. On the other hand, following a peak in the late 1980s, nitrogen concentrations have been decreasing. The reasons for this are a reduced input of nitrogen in agriculture and improved elimination in wastewater treatment.

August 28, 2018When water samples are analysed with a mass spectrometer, peaks of compounds appear that are completely unknown, or that weren’t being looked for. If these compounds prove subsequently to be of interest to environmental researchers, evidence of their presence can be retrieved from the archived measurements. 

August 28, 2018Ecologist Florian Altermatt was appointed Associate Professor for Aquatic Ecology by the University Board on 27 August. Florian has been working in Eawag’s Department of Aquatic Ecology for over seven years as Group Head, and was awarded an SNF Research Professorship at the University of Zurich in 2014. 

August 24, 2018Cichlids belong to one of the largest fish families, with new species emerging all the time. These colourful, shimmering fish evolve so fast that Eawag researchers have now been able to practically observe them in the process of their evolution.

August 23, 2018Jennifer Inauen, group head within Eawag’s Environmental Social Sciences Department received the “Early Career Award” at this year’s European Health Psychology Society Conference in Galway. Every year, the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) presents this award in recognition of new talent in the field of health psychology.

August 22, 2018The constantly growing number of new substances, materials and technologies are opening up new possibilities. However, their impact on the environment is often an unknown quantity and has to be carefully investigated before they are placed on the market. In order to support this process, the School of Life Sciences FHNW and Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, have created a joint professorship. The incumbent professor, Miriam Langer, will take up her post on 1st September in the new FHNW campus in Muttenz.

August 16, 2018Fluoride occurs naturally in groundwater. In small amounts, this is usually not a problem, but in India the concentration in many places exceeds the threshold at which is starts to present a health hazard. According to estimates by Eawag researchers, based on new computer models, more than a hundred million people are affected.

August 15, 2018Eawag has studied how various pumped-storage hydropower scenarios affect temperature and water quality in the waterbodies concerned. In the case of Sihlsee, which serves as a reservoir for the SBB Etzelwerk plant, the question of withdrawal depth was found to be crucially important. The study also highlighted the fact that the assessment of environmental impacts largely depends on the definition of the reference state: whereas in natural lakes water is discharged from the surface, in reservoirs it is withdrawn from the lower layer. The environmental and aesthetic impacts of pumped-storage operations in the riparian zone were not examined in this study.

August 10, 2018Commitment to teaching: Eawag scientist Bernhard Wehrli took over the post of Director of Studies in Environmental Sciences at ETH Zurich on August 1, 2018.

August 9, 2018The development of novel, less costly analytical methods is of crucial importance in addressing the issue of micropollutants in surface waters. This was one of the main goals of EDA-EMERGE, an EU-funded programme in which Eawag also participated.