Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

Eawag is one of the world’s leading aquatic research institutes. With its professional diversity, close partnerships with practitioners and an international network, Eawag offers an excellent environment for the study of water as a habitat and resource, for identifying problems at an early stage and for developing widely accepted solutions.

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Sampling at the Werdhölzli WWTP, Zurich, where wastewater from almost 400,000 people is collected. (Photo: Eawag, Esther Michel)

Background

Wastewater monitoring meets with great interest

December 17, 2024

Today, over 60 experts from research, federal and cantonal administration, the police, politics and hospitals are meeting to discuss the current status and future of wastewater monitoring in Switzerland. The current trends: a seasonal increase for influenza and the RSV virus, stagnating or even declining for coronavirus. We spoke to environmental engineer Christoph Ort, who, together with environmental microbiologist Tim Julian, established the field of wastewater-based epidemiology at Eawag and - in cooperation with external experts - is constantly adapting it.

Blue-green spaces such as the area along the River Limmat near Zurich’s city centre cool the environment and help to mitigate the effect of global warming (iStock, Michael Derrer Fuchs).

News

Making heatwaves in cities more bearable

December 12, 2024

Plants and water can mitigate heat in cities. Using Zurich as a case study, Eawag researchers tested a climate model which indicates how large the effect of green and blue spaces is. The model supports urban planning and shows where improvements would be particularly effective.

Video

Translating science into action and engage in ...

December 10, 2024

In view of biodiversity loss, it is important that early-career researchers get involved not only in science but also contribute to biodiversity policy.

Eawag has now been awarded the ‘Friendly Workspace’ label by Health Promotion Switzerland (Image: Peter Penicka, Eawag).

Institutional

Eawag is now officially a Friendly Workspace

November 28, 2024

Following an in-depth assessment by Health Promotion Switzerland, it is now official: Eawag is a certified ‘Friendly Workspace’. This means that Eawag puts great importance to the health and well-being of its employees.

90 percent of the entire Eawag site is designed to be near-natural and is also maintained accordingly (Photo: Eawag, Alessandro Della Bella).

Institutional

Eawag’s outdoor facilities receive certificate for their ...

November 21, 2024

The near-natural landscaping of the green spaces around the Eawag buildings in Dübendorf not only promotes biodiversity, but also offers employees and visitors an attractive environment in which to spend time. Because of this, Eawag has now been awarded the certificate for near-natural company premises by the Natur & Wirtschaft (Nature & Economy) Foundation.

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Our newsletter is published six times a year and provides information on current research and development projects, publications and events at the aquatic research institute Eawag. In addition, two special newsletters a year provide in-depth information on a current research topic at Eawag.

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24.01.2025

Practice-oriented course

Abwassermonitoring – Gesundheitsdaten für die Schweiz

9.00 am

Eawag Dübendorf

27.01.2025

ETH Domain Conference “Social Sciences on Environment, Technology & Sustainability”

9.00 am

Eawag Campus Dübendorf

12.02.2025

Blue Summit Switzerland trägt Fakten der Wissenschaft an die Politik

2.00 pm

Schloss Reichenau, Reichenau-Tamins

SRF programme Einstein, 19.12.2024

The invasive quagga mussel is spreading into more and more Swiss lakes. Where does it come from? How can it be detected in lakes? What are the consequences of its infestation? And how can its rapid spread be curbed? Eawag researchers provide answers to these questions in the SRF programme ‘Einstein’, which accompanied them during their work in Lake Zurich and Lake Constance as well as in the laboratory.

we are investigating the basis for clean drinking water and sustainable management of drinking water resources.

we are investigating how to optimise wastewater infrastructures and overcome new challenges.

our research contributes to understanding and conserving aquatic biodiversity.

we are investigating biotic communities and their habitats in order to conserve ecosystem services for us humans.

we are investigating the effect of chemical substances on the environment and developing methods to remove them from drinking water, wastewater and bodies of water.