Water and Development

WASH: water, sanitation and hygiene

Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are recognized in the Millennium Development Goals as key contributors to human health and welfare. Hygienic practices are also crucially important to prevent the spread of diarrheal disease, a major cause of childhood mortality. Appropriate management of excreta protects the environment and can allow for the recovery of nutrients and energy.

News

September 19, 2023

September 19, 2023During prolonged droughts, the drinking water supply for the affected population is critical. Water filters are of enormous importance in such emergencies to prevent diseases. However, often it is not the distribution of filters that is lacking, but the fact that they are not used consistently in everyday life. Researchers at the Aquatic Research Institute Eawag have analysed the reasons for this in Northern Kenya.

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September 14, 2023

September 14, 2023At today's Eawag Info Day, the Aquatic Research Institute outlined the steps that need to be taken to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Scientific publications

Kollmann, J.; Nath, S.; Singh, S.; Balasubramanian, S.; Reynaert, E.; Morgenroth, E.; Contzen, N. (2023) Acceptance of on-site wastewater treatment and reuse in Bengaluru, India: the role of perceived costs, risks, and benefits, Science of the Total Environment, 895, 165042 (11 pp.), doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165042, Institutional Repository
Wainaina, G. K.; Truffer, B.; Murphy, J. T. (2023) Structural tensions limiting success of infrastructure upgrading: a multi-regime perspective, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 48, 100747 (13 pp.), doi:10.1016/j.eist.2023.100747, Institutional Repository
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Current research projects

The aim of CWIS research is to develop a method that synthesizes existing information about the sanitation landscapes of cities in India and that presents comprehensive sanitation solutions.
Inadequate access to microbiologically safe drinking water continuously threatens the health and well-being of more than a billion people, primarily in developing countries
This project facilitates the exchange of data, maps and information on geogenic contaminants (focussing on arsenic and fluoride) via the web-based Groundwater Assessment Platform (GAP)
SWP assesses recontamination risks in treated water and evaluates strategies to prevent it: safe storage options, UV-C disinfection in storage containers and passive system-level chlorination.
WABES explores opportunities for integrated planning, implementation and sustainability of water, solid waste and fecal sludge service provision in urban settings.
Water Resource Quality (WRQ) was an integrated project running from 2006-2012 at Eawag that aimed to develop a generally applicable framework for the mitigation of geogenic contamination in groundwater used for drinking.
Organic waste is a feed substrate for insect larvae and these an excellent protein source in animal feed.

Experts

Dr. Nadja Contzen
  • environmental psychology
  • transdisciplinary research
  • behaviour change
  • health psychology
  • public acceptability
Dr. Lauren Cook
  • planning of infrastructure
  • climate change
  • modeling
  • sustainable water management
  • urban water management
Dr. Fabrizio Fenicia
  • uncertainty assessment
  • catchment hydrology
  • modeling
  • water quality
Dr. Joaquin Jimenez-Martinez
  • groundwater
  • hydrogeology
  • modeling
  • porous and fractured media
  • transport of contaminants
Dr. Joao Paulo Leitao
  • GIS
  • urban planning
  • modeling
  • Risk assessment
  • urban water management
Dr. Christoph Lüthi
  • developing countries
  • urban planning
  • sustainable water management
  • urban sanitation
  • transdisciplinary research
  • drinking water
Dr. Sara Marks
  • sustainable water management
  • technology concepts
  • transdisciplinary research
  • water treatment
  • water supply
Regula Meierhofer
  • urban planning
  • sustainable water management
  • drinking water
  • water treatment
  • water supply
Dr. Daniel Odermatt
  • monitoring
  • surface water
  • spectroscopic methods
  • earth observation
  • remote sensing
Dr. Linda Strande
  • wastewater
  • developing countries
Dr. Christian Zurbrügg
  • solid waste management
  • sustainable water management
  • water treatment
  • urban sanitation
  • water supply

Cover picture: Eawag study in Africa about the recontamination of drinking water in jerrycans. (Photo: Regula Meierhofer)