Water for the environment

The resilience and adaptive capacity of ecosystems support their sustained function and provision of ecosystem services under the pressure of direct and indirect human impacts. Eawag’s research helps to develop measures to reduce human impacts on the water environment as well as to assess and strengthen ecosystem resilience.

Sustainable water management provides sufficient clean water everywhere and at all times – for example as drinking water, for food production or for hygiene. It does not overuse existing resources and protects ecosystems. The costs incurred are affordable for society and the entire system can respond flexibly to challenges, but is inherently stable. That would be the ideal situation. But the reality is different in many places: hygiene problems in the Global South, more and more problematic substances as pollution, conflicts between individual water sectors and the loss of valuable nutrients from regional cycles are just a few examples. This is where Eawag gets involved.

Key strategic areas

Biodiversity

Understanding and preserving biodiversity

Human intervention is causing biodiversity in aquatic environments to decline. We explore the diversity of nature to better understand how species emerge and how they become extinct. Based on this, we can determine which tools can be used to protect biodiversity.

Ecosystems

Understanding and protecting water ecosystems

Water bodies provide many valuable ecosystem services. However, our activities are putting rivers, lakes and groundwater under pressure. Eawag's research contributes to a better understanding, sustainable management and better protection of aquatic ecosystems.

Pollutants

Detecting and eliminating pollutants

Pesticides, PFAS, heavy metals, medicinal products, microplastics: A large number of chemical substances are released into the environment. Eawag is investigating how pollutants affect aquatic organisms and is developing methods to better reduce micropollutants.