Archive News

September 2, 2020Researchers from Agroscope, Eawag, University of Bern and ETH have developed a method for the comprehensive detection of organic pollutant residues in soils and sediments. Initial results show that, in addition to known substances, there are also a number of substances detected for the first time.

August 17, 2020Blue-green algae are very common both in the water and on land. Sporadically, they occur in lakes on the surface in such large numbers that one speaks of a bloom. Because there are species that can produce toxic substances, many questions arise.

July 28, 2020One of the heavy metals naturally present in soils is thallium. Since little is known about its environmental behaviour, a research group at Eawag has been studying this metal in detail.

July 20, 2020In addition to ozonation, filters using granulated activated carbon (GAC) are increasingly being deployed to eliminate trace substances from municipal wastewater. Working in conjunction with authorities and representatives from the field, Eawag has developed a document that will assist stakeholders with planning in relation to such measures.

July 9, 2020The Verband zum Schutz des Greifensees (VGS) (Association for the Preservation of Lake Greifensee) elected its new Council of Delegates on 25 June 2020. In addition to representatives of all municipalities surrounding the lake, the committee also includes cantonal agencies, farmers, fishermen, sailors and – for the first time – a research representative, with the election of Eawag’s Piet Spaak as an aquatic ecologist.

June 10, 2020Thanks to a new instrument, water pollutants can be measured automatically over a period of weeks – directly in the field, rather than in the laboratory. The mobile mass spectrometer is housed in a trailer and can be remotely controlled by smartphone.

May 21, 2020Many experts describe the health effects of drinking water contaminated with toxic concentrations of arsenic as the greatest mass poisoning in human history. A risk model developed by Eawag researcher Joel Podgorski now shows that up to 220 million people worldwide could be affected.

May 14, 2020In order to increase the permeability of the rock for applications such as the use of geothermal energy, rock is artificially broken. Until now, there was a lack of methods to track this process in the field in real time. Thanks to a new technique, this gap can now be closed, as a study by Eawag and ETH Zurich shows.

April 30, 2020The novel coronavirus has been successfully detected in wastewater – even at low concentrations, in samples collected at an early stage of the outbreak. Researchers at EPFL and Eawag are now working to optimise the method. The aim is to develop a system which could warn of a resurgence of cases earlier than clinical diagnostic tests.

April 28, 2020The active ingredient diclofenac contained in various painkillers is hardly degraded at all in wastewater treatment plants and therefore accumulates in surface waters. There, amphipods convert diclofenac into a more toxic substance, namely diclofenac methyl ester, as shown in a study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag).