Hydrology

Today, over 60 experts from research, federal and cantonal administration, the police, politics and hospitals are meeting to discuss the current status and future of wastewater monitoring in Switzerland. The current trends: a seasonal increase for influenza and the RSV virus, stagnating or even declining for coronavirus. We spoke to environmental engineer Christoph Ort, who, together with environmental microbiologist Tim Julian, established the field of wastewater-based epidemiology at Eawag and - in cooperation with external experts - is constantly adapting it.

The near-natural landscaping of the green spaces around the Eawag buildings in Dübendorf not only promotes biodiversity, but also offers employees and visitors an attractive environment in which to spend time. Because of this, Eawag has now been awarded the certificate for near-natural company premises by the Natur & Wirtschaft (Nature & Economy) Foundation. 

The temperatures of mountain rivers rise. Climate change is endangering industrial and electricity production and threatening fish stocks.

A team of EPFL scientists has provided insight into the mechanisms at work in geothermal reservoirs located deep underground, known as supercritical reservoirs. Through a combination of computer simulations and lab experiments, they showed that rocks located between five and eight kilometers deep in the Earth’s crust are also permeable to fluids. 

Prof. Andrea Rinaldo, an EPFL expert in hydrology, has been selected as the 2023 winner of the Stockholm Water Prize – the world’s most prestigious award in water research, handed out by the king of Sweden.

Environmental DNA analysis of microbial communities can help us understand how a particular region’s water cycle works. Oliver Schilling, Professor at Eawag and the University of Basel, recently used this method to examine the water cycle on Mount Fuji. His results have implications for Switzerland as well.