EAWAG: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
EAWAG: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology is a research center that is part of the pulse of the water sector. Here we bring together everything it publishes on Smart Water Magazine: its news, its blogs and the events it takes part in.
Four billion people estimated to lack safe drinking water services
More than half of the global population was estimated to lack safely managed drinking water services in a recent study led 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. Safe drinking water access is a […]
Industrial wastewater: even state-of-the-art treatment plants do not eliminate all contaminants
Even though industrial wastewater is treated at state-of-the art plants, the sheer variety of synthetic organic compounds from the chemical and pharmaceutical industry which end up in surface waters are seriously underestimated. This is shown by a new study carried out by Eawag and ETH Zurich.
Indirect effects of climate change adaptations on alpine and pre‐alpine freshwater systems
When thermometers in California recorded scorching temperatures in the summer of 2000, even the salmon in Klamath River felt the effects. The temperature of the water drove them to gather in unusually large numbers in confined spaces, creating the perfect food source for pathogens. At the same time, farmers redirected increasing amounts of water to […]
Millions of people drink groundwater contaminated with arsenic
Many 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. Today, one third of the world’s population obtains its drinking water […]
Precious metal tracks nanoplastics
Tiny plastic particles measuring about 100 nanometres (millionths of a millimetre) are used in many products, for example, to encapsulate dye or aromatic substances or as additives to shampoos and cosmetics. Many of them land directly in sewage as soon as the products are used. Together with other plastics, for example from tyre rubber in […]