News Portal

Eawag’s practice-oriented courses (known as PEAK) provide training for professionals. Isabelle Schläppi of the PEAK Office looks back over a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, around 25 guests were able to witness live - and in keeping with Corona- how the large silver key to the new Eawag building symbolically changed hands.

On July 1, Benoit Ferrari will permanently take over as director of the Ecotox Centre, which he has already led ad interim for the past two years. He will be supported by Etienne Vermeirssen, group leader of Aquatic Ecotoxicology, as deputy director.

Groundwater is also an ecosystem, but little is known about the biodiversity underground. Eawag researchers have now documented the diversity of life in Swiss groundwater in a pilot study – and discovered previously unknown species of amphipods in the process. Here they relied on a citizen science approach.

The OECD gives the green light to the fish cell line assay developed at Eawag. This paves the way for companies and authorities around the world to determine the environmental toxicology of chemicals without having to resort to animal testing.

Bacteria from an Indian landfill could help eliminate contaminated chemicals. The focus is on pesticides such as lindane or brominated flame retardants, which accumulate in nature and in food chains. Researchers at Eawag and Empa used these bacteria to generate enzymes that can break down these dangerous chemicals.

Formerly widespread, native crayfish in Switzerland are now highly endangered. With support from Eawag, experts are doing everything they can to preserve the secretive river dwellers.

Hydropower is considered to be CO2-neutral, but certain power plants in tropical regions produce large quantities of greenhouse gases. Researchers at Eawag have now studied how much carbon dioxide escapes into the atmosphere below the Kariba Dam in southern Africa. Such previously ignored emissions must be taken into account by future carbon budgets.

In the Water Hub, our scientists are researching sustainable and decentralised wastewater treatment. Here, wastewater is not regarded as waste, but as a resource. Now the research platform in NEST can be visited virtually at any time.

With the latest analytical methods, potentially toxic substances can be detected even at very low concentrations. However, the aim of research is not merely to document such contamination but also to understand how it occurs in streams and groundwater, and to propose mitigation measures.

From flood protection and drinking water supply to the revitalisation of water bodies and hydropower production – water policy in Switzerland takes place in a wide variety of sectors. However, the exchange of information between politically divided players is often difficult. Science plays an important role as a bridge builder between the camps.

Microbes self-organise to grow into fascinating and complex patterns. The diversity of these patterns depends on a previously unknown factor, as researchers at Eawag have discovered. This might re-define how we view the concept of microbial biodiversity.

The Zambezi River Basin in southern Africa is a high-quality waterscape. But current rapid development threatens the waters of the Zambezi, particularly its tributaries. The challenge will be to ensure that mitigation measures keep up with population and economic growth to avoid degradation of water quality degradation.

Treated wastewater can be continuously monitored online with the use of organisms. This gives operators of wastewater treatment plants and discharging industrial companies the ability to respond to acute pollution quickly.

The shift from fossil to renewable energy sources is essential for climate mitigation but will also significantly reduce the atmospheric input of the nutrients sulphur and selenium into soils. Sustainable solutions are therefore needed to supply intensively used agricultural soils with sufficient nutrients and to ensure a safe and healthy diet for the world's population.  

An Eawag researcher has helped to develop a new approach to tracking how river water enters the groundwater. In the test area within the Emmental, the flow time within the aquifer has been shown to be much shorter than previously assumed. This has potential consequences during dry spells.

22 May is the International Day for Biological Diversity. In 2021, the theme is: "We are part of the solution". The research institutes Eawag and WSL are working together in search of solutions to conserve, promote and protect biodiversity.

The last ice age, about 20,000 years ago, was significantly colder than previously thought. This is shown for the first time by systematically analysed samples of groundwater collected around the globe and the inert gases dissolved in it. Swiss groundwater from Uster (ZH) also contributed to the results.

With research, teaching and consulting on all aspects of water, Eawag is committed to a sustainable future – in Switzerland and worldwide. This is illustrated by the diverse and exciting projects that we present in our Annual Report.

On Wednesday, 5 May, the expansion of the Empa and Eawag research campus in Dübendorf began with a ground-breaking ceremony for a new laboratory building. This was attended by representatives of the two research institutes, the general contractor, the architectural office and the city of Dübendorf.

Eawag Director Janet Hering has been awarded the honorary title of IAGC Fellow by the International Association of Geochemistry for her contributions to the field of geochemistry.

Their very small size means that rotaviruses are difficult to filter out of water. But these pathogens are among the leading causes of gastrointestinal infections, especially among children in developing countries. Now, a team of researchers from Empa and Eawag has demonstrated an approach that could make rotaviruses easier to remove in the future.

The condition of Swiss lakes has improved thanks to stricter protection measures, but less than expected. A new method developed by Eawag for calculating biomass production in lakes provides explanations and a basis for further water protection measures.

Never did Jagannath Biswakarma think that a Tweet about one of his academic articles would receive attention from world-leading media outlets. Yet, that is exactly what happened and how his work was promoted internationally.

A mobile handwashing station that hygienically recycles its own water without water mains or sewage connection not only has great potential for deployment in countries lacking in infrastructure. The water wall also has great potential in public transport or at events.

The influence of various factors on the ecosystem of Lake Constance and its resilience is the main focus of two mutually informative and wide-ranging research projects that are currently in progress.

In the Blue-Green Biodiversity research initiative of WSL and Eawag scientists from around the world are working together to find solutions to the pressing challenges of biodiversity loss. The scientists explain in a video what they are working on – and why.