Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

The Sustainable Development Goals are at the heart of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. 193 countries, including Switzerland, have adopted the 2015 Agenda. The 17 goals aim to advance sustainable development worldwide at the economic, social and environmental levels, put human dignity at the centre, protect the planet and promote peace and prosperity for all.

Eawag’s research enables progress towards attaining the 17 SDGs. First and foremost, our work naturally supports Goal 6: clean drinking water and sanitation. However, many research projects also contribute to Goals 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

By clicking on the SDG, the goal is explained and projects are shown that contribute to achieving the goal.

Passive samplers can provide valuable data for certain water monitoring applications at low cost. (photo: Andri Bryner, Eawag)

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025The 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.

Legionella bacteria also thrive in garden hoses and shower hoses (Photo: Unsplash).

August 6, 2025

August 6, 2025Diseases caused by Legionella bacteria are on the rise, despite national and international efforts to contain them. A joint paper by an international panel of researchers in this field highlights the important steps that need to be taken in the coming years to combat the pathogen.

Sampling during the corona epidemic at the Werdhölzli wastewater treatment plant in Zurich (Photo: Eawag, Andri Bryner)

July 17, 2025

July 17, 2025Wastewater 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.