Archive News

February 12, 2018

February 12, 2018Heavy rainfall can cause flash floods in urban areas. While data from flood events is required to model such phenomena, water levels and discharges are not routinely measured above ground. Eawag now plans to make use of widely available images and videos to estimate these values.

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February 8, 2018

February 8, 2018When a person wearing a bright-orange protective suit and carrying a laptop climbs out of a sewer shaft, it could well be an employee of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). Especially if this happens in Fehraltorf. Since 2016, Eawag has been constructing an internationally unique net of sensors that document water circulation in residential areas.

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December 14, 2017

December 14, 2017At its meeting on 13 and 14 December 2017, the ETH Board appointed Dr. Kai Udert as Titular Professor of ETH Zurich. Kai Udert works at Eawag since 2006 and is currently group leader within the Department Process Engineering and lecturer at ETH Zurich. His main research focus is on new technologies for resource recovery from wastewater.

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December 13, 2017

December 13, 2017The EPFL has launched a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in collaboration with Eawag’s Sandec department and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The course is designed to shed light on the important role played by Public Health Engineers at times of humanitarian crisis, and how health risks can be mitigated.

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November 24, 2017

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. 

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October 10, 2017

October 10, 2017A study just published by Eawag scientists shows that gold and silver each amounting to around CHF 1.5 million a year are lost via effluents and sludge from wastewater treatment plants in Switzerland. The concentrations measured do not pose risks to the environment – and recycling would not be economically worthwhile. However, the study also produced surprising findings on other trace elements in wastewater, including rare earth metals such as gadolinium and the heavy metal niobium.

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August 25, 2017

August 25, 2017Eawag researchers working on the research project “VUNA” have developed a new recycling process with which nutrients in urine can be harvested and used as fertilizer. In order to further their ideology of sustainable handling of water and wastewater and to work out and implement innovative concepts of water and wastewater treatment, the researchers have founded the Spin-off Vuna GmbH. 

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July 24, 2017

July 24, 2017It has been a year since the research building NEST was inaugurated by Empa and Eawag. Since then, scientists working in the research platform Water Hub have investigated new models and methods to recycle waste water. Experiments for processing and reusing grey water started in June. 

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June 28, 2017

June 28, 2017Eawag plays a key role in bridging between theory and practice. To strengthen its connection with the engineering sector in Western Switzerland (Romandie), Eawag has created a new group leader position within the Process Engineering Department. We interviewed the new group leader Nicolas Derlon on the possibilities and challenges of wastewater treatment in Western Switzerland. 

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June 1, 2017

June 1, 2017Micropollutants enter rivers and streams in effluents discharged from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). As well as having adverse impacts on individual species, these substances appear to alter aquatic ecosystem functions, such as litter decomposition. This was shown by a research project launched by Eawag in view of the planned upgrade of selected Swiss WWTPs to reduce micropollutant loads. The effects of the first upgrades are already evident. 

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