The latest news from Eawag

Current studies shed light on which pesticides are particularly relevant for the pollution of Swiss watercourses and where they come from. 

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.

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.

The ETH Board appointed Daniel McCurry as a joint professor at EPFL and Eawag. The environmental engineer, who is currently still teaching in the USA, is already on sabbatical at Eawag. From summer 2026, alongside his teaching and research activities at EPFL, he will set up a research group that will also be active at Eawag.