Science that matters

The aquatic research institute Eawag is getting serious about the sponge city. Instead of heat collectors, water basins and water-storing vegetation on the roofs of the institute's own buildings are to curb the excesses of climate change and provide a habitat at the same time. What's new: the water basins will be used as highly flexible energy storage units.

Not only are the numbers of species declining, but the composition of species communities is also changing. This is shown by a new study published in the journal “Nature”.

Laboratories play an important role in effective water quality monitoring. The Eawag department of Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development (Sandec) is collaborating on the REACHLabs project, which is analysing the effectiveness of fit-for-purpose (FFP) laboratories in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. FFP labs are laboratories designed to meet specific local operational and management needs of rural water supplies.

Storage hydropower plants contribute to the energy transition, but also affect river ecosystems. Sustainable management should not only account for individual hydropeaking events, but also their cumulative effects.