The latest news from Eawag

Methane-oxidizing bacteria could play a greater role than previously thought in preventing the release of climate-damaging methane from lakes.

More than half of the global population were estimated to lack safely managed drinking water services in a recent study lead by Eawag researchers. This is shown in a global map that researchers compiled using machine learning based on data from household surveys and data derived from Earth observations.

Cities need to become more sustainable and use their water resources more efficiently. Managing water in small-scale cycles is one possible solution. A new white paper shows how this can be achieved.

With a 3D view through the fishoscope, fish in the Rhine Fall basin can be experienced up close. Eawag has accompanied the pilot project.

Researchers at Eawag and the Swiss Data Science Center have trained AI algorithms with a comprehensive ecotoxicological dataset.

Environmental chemist Joanna Houska has received an award for her doctoral thesis from the German Water Chemistry Society. She conducted her research at Eawag and EPFL, demonstrating both theoretically and experimentally how oxidative water treatment using ozone or chlorine can be more efficiently utilized when there is a precise understanding of the organic substances dissolved in the water to be treated.

Biodiversity is dwindling rapidly, while measures to protect it are lagging behind the targets. Only one thing can help: utilising scarce resources as efficiently as possible where they are most effective. The “Lanat-3” research project lays the foundation for this with the help of the latest data and AI-supported models.

The VSA Water Quality Platform and Eawag have analysed the effects to date of the measures taken under the "Action Plan for Risk Reduction and Sustainable Use of Pesticides" on water quality. The number of limit value exceedances has decreased significantly since 2019. Nevertheless, many kilometres of rivers and streams are still contaminated. Pyrethroids pose a particularly high risk to watercourses.

As the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, our research is in the service of society. Discover this for yourself in the new publication.

Researchers at Eawag have analysed wastewater for antibiotic-resistant coliform bacteria. Monitoring wastewater can help to observe trends and regional differences, independent of the actual cases of illness.

The Aquascope underwater camera has been installed in Lake Zug. It is the second permanent measuring station for plankton in Swiss water bodies.