Archive News

December 4, 2017Inadequate access to safe sanitation in developing and emerging countries is one of the most pressing global challenges in the water sector, according to Eawag Director Janet Hering, who is interviewed in the latest issue of Aqua & Gas. 

November 30, 2017Michael Besmer has been awarded the 2017 Otto Jaag Water Protection prize for his thesis on “Monitoring short-term dynamics of bacterial concentrations in natural and engineered aquatic ecosystems”. The prize recognises excellent PhD theses and masters dissertations completed at ETH Zurich in the fields of water protection and hydrology. 

November 27, 2017Although nutrient inputs to Swiss lakes are today much lower than they were before the introduction of phosphate precipitation at wastewater treatment plants and the ban on phosphates in detergents, many lakes are still affected by oxygen depletion – especially in the deeper waters.

November 24, 2017During heavy rainfall, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are often unable to cope with the volumes of water arising, and some wastewater may then be discharged untreated into surface waters. 

November 23, 2017In collaboration with the Centre for Hydrogeology and Geothermal Energy at the University of Neuchâtel, Eawag recently organised a PEAK Course on the controversial topic of “Groundwater and Agriculture”. A major focal point of the information and discussions was the issue of nitrate pollution.

November 22, 2017According to a survey conducted by Eawag, around 45 per cent of all actors in the Swiss water sector are concerned in some way with river restoration. 

November 21, 2017As part of the artists-in-labs programme run by the Zurich University of the Arts, two artists from Saudi Arabia are currently artists-in-residence at Eawag for three months. Zahrah Alghamdi is working in the Aquatic Ecology department and is looking at running waters and their physical properties as well as their emotional and poetical aspects, while Muhannad Shono is a guest of the Environmental Microbiology department, where he is exploring parallels between microorganisms and humans.

November 20, 2017Tomorrow, 21 November 2017, will be Switzerland’s first ever Digital Day, with around 40 prominent businesses and institutions holding more than 80 events around the country to show what the significance of digitalisation will be for them and for Switzerland’s future. The President of the Federal Council, Doris Leuthard, will open the Digital Day at an event in Zurich’s main railway station, which will also be attended by federal minister Johann Schneider and Eawag Director Janet Hering.

November 2, 2017Christian Stamm and Alfred Johny Wüest are lecturing along with other academics and practitioners in a new online course on “Water in Switzerland”, run by the University of Zurich. The course, addressed to the public, examines how this element affects various aspects of life in Switzerland.

October 27, 2017In Switzerland – not to mention the rest of Europe and the United States – freshwater fish are falling victim to a deadly disease that is rampant in the summer and dormant in the winter. It is caused by a parasite that thrives in rivers and attacks salmonid fish in particular. Researchers from EPFL, Eawag and University of Bern have come up with a mathematical model for predicting outbreaks as part of a three-year joint research program.