Archive News

March 9, 2021Monitoring of wastewater samples has the potential to provide a further indicator – alongside the number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths – to track the course of the pandemic. With support from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), an existing research project is now being expanded from two to six wastewater treatment plants.

March 3, 2021New pharmaceuticals are being launched on the market all the time. It is of course their effectiveness in people’s health that is of central importance here, but at some point, their active ingredients or traces of them wind up in the environment, where they can have negative consequences. A large-scale EU project in which Eawag is also participating is now trying to help ensure that possible environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals are recognised by the pharmaceutical industry and the relevant approval bodies in the early stages of a drug’s development.

February 23, 2021A new fact sheet highlights the opportunities and challenges associated with greywater.

January 29, 2021For three months, an extended family in South Africa tested the standalone Autarky toilet cubicle. Everyone was very happy with the quiet hideout.

January 6, 2021Each year, around 130 kilograms of mercury flow into Swiss wastewater treatment plants, which filter out the lion’s share from the waste water. This is shown by a survey of almost thirty wastewater treatment plants conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) and the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).

November 26, 2020Sprawling carpets of floating plants are the result of too many nutrients. However, they could become part of solution strategies, Eawag researchers show.

November 19, 2020At Eawag, the aquatic research institute, numerous scientists are conducting research into toilets. In short videos, seven of them explain what fascinates them about the topic and what exactly their research is all about.

October 6, 2020The new digital tool PlaNet makes it easier for municipalities to identify important project partners but also critical voices in complex environmental and infrastructure projects. In this way, it helps them to set up participatory processes in a professional manner.

September 29, 2020Circular economy also holds great potential when it comes to wastewater. At NEST, Eawag is conducting research on decentralized wastewater treatment with the aim to use wastewater as a source of nutrients, energy and water. Important partners are Keramik Laufen AG with the urine separation toilet "Save!" and the Eawag Spin-off Vuna with the liquid fertilizer made of urine "Aurin".

September 18, 2020Adaptation to warmer environmental conditions may increase the resistance of viruses, making them harder to be inactivated. This is the finding of a new study involving Eawag. Global warming could therefore make it more difficult to combat viruses.