The Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag, German acronym for ''Eidgenössische Anstalt für Wasserversorgung, Abwasserreinigung und Gewässerschutz'') is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

water

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

and an internationally networked institution. As part of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain, it is an institution of the

Federal Department of Home Affairs The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA, , , , ) is a department of the federal administration of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss ministry of the interior. Since 2024, it is headed by Federal Councillor Élisabeth Baume-Schneider. Or ...

of the

Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerlan ...

. The Eawag is based in

Dübendorf Dübendorf is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Uster (district), Uster in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zürich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. It is a suburb of Zürich in Switzerland with a population o ...

near

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and Kastanienbaum near

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. After its foundation in 1936 it concentrated on

wastewater treatment Wastewater treatment is a process which removes and eliminates contaminants from wastewater. It thus converts it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once back in the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on ...

and

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

supplies. From these beginnings it has expanded into a multidisciplinary research institute with a focus on three primary research areas: water as a foundation of health and well-being, water as an essential factor in the functioning of our ecological systems, and strategies for the mitigation of water use conflicts. Nowadays, with a staff of over 500 employees, Eawag is actively engaged in research, teaching and consulting in all areas pertaining to water. Eawag's overall aim is to ensure the sustainable use of water resources and infrastructure and to harmonize the ecological, economic and social interests associated with bodies of water. In doing so, the Eawag plays an important role in bridging research and practice.

History

The Eawag was founded in 1936 as an advisory board of the

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

for wastewater treatment and drinking water supplies. Less than ten years later this information center officially becomes the ''Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology'' (or EAWAG as per its German

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

) whose mission is increasingly devoted to developing integrated approaches to water management and protection: besides being key to implementing the first water management regulation in 1957, the institute later demonstrated that the growth of green algae that plagued Swiss lakes at the time was mostly due to the release of

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with Cleanliness, cleansing properties when in Concentration, dilute Solution (chemistry), solutions. There are a large variety of detergents. A common family is the alkylbenzene sulfonate ...

-derived

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...

s. These were finally banned in 1985. The institute grew through the 1960s and 1970s: first came the Kastanienbaum hydrobiological research centre, followed in 1968 by

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

's recently created International Reference Centre for Waste Disposal, out of which the current Department for Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development (Sandec) emerged. In 1970 Eawag, until then an institute within

becomes an affiliated institute within the ETH system, moving a few months later in their new premises in Dübendorf. In 1993, a new law sets it as an independent water research institute within the ETH domain. In 2004 the Fishing Information Centre FIBER, in 2008 the Water Agenda 21 and the Ecotox Centre, and in 2010 the centres of excellence CEEB and CCDW were founded. In 2007 Eawag moved to the Forum Chriesbach, itself a winner of several environmental awards.

Activities

Research

As a water research institute Eawag has three major focus areas: * Water for human welfare Safe drinking water supply and wastewater disposal are essential to maintain human welfare. Eawag research projects aim to develop optimum approaches and strategies to meet future threats caused by increasing

contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that renders something unsuitable, unfit or harmful for the physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Within the scien ...

population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

, and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. * Water for ecosystem function The increasing pressure of civilisation has a negative influence on the water environment and ecosystems. Developing strategies and measures to both strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s. Maintaining a sustainable provision of

ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the various benefits that humans derive from Ecosystem, ecosystems. The interconnected Biotic_material, living and Abiotic, non-living components of the natural environment offer benefits such as pollination of crops, clean ...

is another focus of Eawag research. * Strategies for trade-offs and competing demands Water use conflicts arise when direct human needs for water and the prevention of negative impacts on ecosystems have to be accommodated at the same time. Eawag research projects develop integrated approaches and put specific emphasis on strategies to meet energy concerns in the context of

trade-off A trade-off (or tradeoff) is a situational decision that involves diminishing or losing on quality, quantity, or property of a set or design in return for gains in other aspects. In simple terms, a tradeoff is where one thing increases, and anoth ...

s and competing demands. Eawag Kastanienbaum

The Eawag has twelve research departments, where research is conducted by

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

and social scientists and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

s. This combination permits a wide range of water research. These departments are: * Aquatic Ecology (ECO) - investigates life in water and encompasses various disciplines within

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

and

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biolo ...

. * Environmental Chemistry (UCHEM) - researches the effect of

contaminants Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that renders something unsuitable, unfit or harmful for the physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Within the scie ...

in waters and their reduction to improve

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

. * Environmental Microbiology (UMIK) - deals with

microbial life A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...

and activities in

surface A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...

and

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...

, in drinking water and in technical systems such as wastewater treatment and drinking water treatment plants. * Environmental Social Sciences (ESS) - investigates environment-related societal processes from the background of several social science disciplines. * Environmental Toxicology (UTOX) - aims to recognize and understand the effects of chemicals on the aquatic environment. * Fish Ecology and Evolution (FISHEC) - investigates the life,

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

and

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

of aquatic organisms, most especially

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

. * Process Engineering (ENG) - deals with current and future problems of wastewater and drinking water treatment, as well as the protection of

water resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either Fresh water, freshwater from natural sources, or water produ ...

and resource recycling. * Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development (SANDEC) - by enhancing local competencies, Sandec contributes to improvements in water supply and wastewater management in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

. * Surface Waters Research and Management (SURF) - researches and manages aquatic system processes. * System Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling (SIAM) - develops

models A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...

and techniques in order to understand and predict processes which affect water and other natural resources. * Urban Water Management (SWW) - strives to develop sustainable concepts for water and

nutrient cycle A nutrient cycle (or ecological recycling) is the movement and exchange of inorganic and organic matter back into the production of matter. Energy flow is a unidirectional and noncyclic pathway, whereas the movement of mineral nutrients is cyc ...

s in

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s. * Water Resource and Drinking Water - (W+T) - researches physical and chemical processes in bodies of water with the aim of ensuring the long-term quantity and quality of drinking water. Together with external partners and various Eawag departments, the Eawag directs and participates in

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

and trans-disciplinary projects in order to combine pure research with practical problem-solving.

Teaching

The Eawag supports universities in educating undergraduate and doctoral candidates in the natural, engineering and social sciences. Numerous master's students and doctoral candidates from within the country and from abroad are supervised and guided in projects pertaining to water research every year. In addition, approximately 26 apprentices are trained in laboratory, commercial or IT-related areas. Furthermore, the Eawag offers specialists in water resources management, administration and science regular courses in further education (PEAK – practice oriented Eawag courses). The courses are based on current research work and experience and help to promote communication exchanges of knowledge and experience between research and practice. In the area of further education, six research scholarships are granted to undergraduate and doctoral candidates from developing countries each year within the framework of the Partnership Program for Developing Countries (EPP).

Consulting

The Eawag carries out various advisory mandates both inland and abroad including, for example, for the Swiss Confederation,

Cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

and

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

. Eawag specialists sit as experts in numerous national and international boards and committees. The Eawag aquatic research institute is, moreover, home to various specialist advisory centres: * The Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology Eawag – EPFL, serves as a knowledge hub and discussion platform for research and development, consulting and education in the field of applied

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

. * The Fisheries Advisory Office (FIBER), a centre for information and further education for recreational and professional fishermen, is jointly run by Eawag, the

Federal Office for the Environment Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

and the Swiss Fishing Association. * Water-Agenda 21, an information platform and forum to support the development of strategies for water resource management. *

SODIS Solar water disinfection, in short SODIS, is a type of portable water purification that uses solar energy to make biologically-contaminated (e.g. bacteria, viruses, protozoa and worms) water safe to drink. Water contaminated with non-biological a ...

(Solar Water Disinfection), a project aimed at securing access to clean drinking water in developing countries. The method is a simple process for disinfecting drinking water which uses

sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...

to kill off pathogenic agents such as

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

es,

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

and

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

. * The

Micropollutant Micropollutants are substances that even at very low concentrations have adverse effects on different environmental matrices. They are an inhomogeneous group of atroprogenic chemical compounds that is discharged by human to the environment. Commonly ...

s Process Engineering Platform is a project run jointly by the Swiss Water Association, Swiss Federal Office of the Environment and Eawag. The platform was set up in 2012 and has established itself as a central, independent advisory unit for technical issues on the elimination of

trace element __NOTOC__ A trace element is a chemical element of a minute quantity, a trace amount, especially used in referring to a micronutrient, but is also used to refer to minor elements in the composition of a rock, or other chemical substance. In nutr ...

s in wastewater treatment plants. * The Platform for Water Quality was co-founded 2015 by the Swiss Water Association, Eawag and the Federal Office for the Environment: it is aimed at water quality assessment in surface waters, with a particular emphasis on micropollutants.

Awards

Eawag researchers have received national and international awards for their achievements. The most important awards include: * 2016: Peter Kilham Memorial Award, Ole Seehausen * 2016: Energy Globe National Award Morocco, Bouziane Outiti * 2015: Swiss Academies Award for Transdisciplinary Research, Sabine Hoffmann * 2015: Distinguished Women in Chemistry Award, Janet Hering * 2015: Harvey M. Rosen Memorial Award, Elisabeth Salhi, Urs von Gunten ''et al.'' * 2015: Theodosius-Dobzhansky Prize, Catherine Wagner * 2014: IWA Project Innovation Award (Global), Tove Larsen ''et al.'' * 2014: IWA Project Innovation Award (Europe & West Asia), Tove Larsen * 2012: Special Recognition Award for outstanding design at the 'Re-invent the Toilet' competition sponsored by the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be List of wealthiest charitable foundations, the third largest char ...

, Tove Larsen ''et al.'' * 2012: J.E. Brandenberger Prize, Martin Wegelin * 2011: IWA Development Solutions Award, Sandec * 2010: Muelheim Water Award, Thomas Egli * 2009: Vietnamese Medal of Honour for outstanding achievements in teaching and professional training in Vietnam for Michael Berg,

Walter Giger Walter Giger (born September 6, 1943 in Zürich) is a Switzerland, Swiss chemist. He had been working at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), where he was the head of the division ''Chemische Problemstoffe''. He h ...

, Antoine Morel and Roland Schertenleib * 2008:

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...

Award for Best Teaching, Willi Gujer * 2008: Transdisciplinarity Award for the Novaquatis project for Tove Larsen and Judit Lienert * 2007: Watt d’Or for the energy efficiency of the Eawag building 'Forum Chriesbach' * 2006: Muehlheim Water Award, Marc Böhler * 2004: Energy Globe Award for

* 1999:

Stockholm Water Prize The Stockholm Water Prize is an annual award that recognizes outstanding achievements in water related activities. Over the past three decades, Stockholm Water Prize Laureates have come from across the world and represented a wide range of profes ...

Werner Stumm Werner Stumm (1924 – 14 April 1999) was a Swiss chemist. After earning his doctorate in inorganic chemistry at the University of Zürich in 1952 he moved to the U.S. where he was active as a professor at Harvard University until 1969. From 197 ...

* 1990:

Marcel Benoist Prize The Marcel Benoist Prize, offered by the Marcel Benoist Foundation, is a monetary prize that has been offered annually since 1920 to a scientist of Swiss nationality or residency who has made the most useful scientific discovery. Emphasis is pl ...

, Bruno Messerli, Werner Stumm and Hans Oeschger The Otto Jaag Water Protection Prize was set up in 1980 in order to honor dissertations and master's theses at the ETH Zurich in the area of water protection and hydrology. Numerous young Eawag researchers have been recipients of this award since then.

Notes and references

External links

*
Forum Chriesbach

Wave 21

Ecotox Centre
{{authority control ETH Domain Laboratories in Switzerland Education in Zurich Research institutes in Zurich fr:Domaine des Écoles polytechniques fédérales#Institut fédéral pour l'aménagement, l'épuration et la protection des eaux (EAWAG)