Eawag Annual Report 2022

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34 Faeces as a valuable resource In Uganda and Senegal, human faeces are used for fuel in brick kilns. During the decades of development of this technology, Eawag researchers have acquired knowledge that they now want to make usable in Switzerland. There are numerous ideas waiting to be explored. And just as many problems that still need to be solved. Michael Vogel, Eawag Linda Strande, Eawag In the picture On the left: The beaker is used to investigate which flocculants are best for dewatering blackwater. On the right: Optical sensor test for the determination of the amount of solid matter in blackwater samples. Three billion people worldwide, mainly in low-income countries, have no connection to a sewage system. With studies and pilot tests in several African countries, researchers at Eawag have been developing technologies for the production of faecal fuels for decades, which are used, for example, to operate brick kilns in Uganda and Senegal. Conversion into insect biomass In Switzerland, considerations regarding the use of human faeces contained in the flushing water – known as blackwater – are even less concrete. The reason: 97 % of households are connected to a central wastewater treatment plant. But now researchers like Michael Vogel from the Department of “Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development” want to make the knowledge they have acquired in Africa usable in Switzerland, too. There are numerous ideas waiting to be explored: our faeces could be used to produce protein-rich animal feed, because it is eaten by the black soldier fly larvae – and thus converted into insect biomass. the dewatering of blackwater. The faecal sludge must be pressed into pellets, which must be further dried in an additional step before they become combustible. However, there are still more than just technical problems to solve before wastewater can be used as a resource on a broad basis in Switzerland. So far, only the use of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants is regulated by law. It may not be spread on the fields as a fertiliser but must be dried and then incinerated in waste incineration plants or cement works. But Vogel believes in the future utilisation of blackwater: “Our job as researchers is to show industry that solutions are feasible and that there is a market for them.” Research with faeces Comic report Moisture content of the faecal sludge The use of faeces as fuel is also being discussed. However, there is a big problem here: the variability of blackwater. Every trip to the toilet provides different source material that needs to be dried. Vogel and his colleagues are therefore looking, among other things, into the question of both the type and quantities of flocculants required that are best suited to accelerate
News in brief CONSULTING 35 Fridolin Haag (Eawag) und cottonbro An app for making difficult decisions. In principle, the Value Decisions app developed at Eawag works like a cost-benefit analysis. However, it is not only a matter of keeping costs as low as possible, but also of achieving a wide range of often contradictory objectives. The app makes the results of the analysis visible. This shows at first glance which options are best for which players. The app has already proven itself in practice: in the canton of Solothurn, for example, it helped to compare the advantages and disadvantages of a conventional wastewater treatment plant with those of a decentralised wastewater infrastructure such as dry toilets. Value Decisions See the app Aldo Todaro, Eawag Biomonitoring of micropollutants in wastewater. Various substances from care products and pharmaceuticals are not completely degraded in wastewater treatment plants. They therefore enter surface waters – as micropollutants – where they can harm the organisms living there. Researchers at Eawag and the Ecotox Centre have discovered in experiments on green algae and water fleas that micropollutants can be rendered harmless if the wastewater is additionally treated with ozone (in the picture) and activated carbon. Aquatic organisms can also be used in biomonitoring systems to continuously monitor the quality of the treated wastewater.
Page 1 and 2: Annual Report 2022
Page 3 and 4: 1 Contents Editorial 04 Eawag in fi
Page 5 and 6: 3 Eawag Eawag’s research activiti
Page 7 and 8: EDITORIAL 5 Eawag Due to a combinat
Page 9 and 10: 7 Personnel Employees by function 5
Page 12: Unicef/Pierre Hotz 9 Where are fluo
Page 15 and 16: 11 Research Practical issues and so
Page 18: RESEARCH 13 Consequences of pestici
Page 21 and 22: RESEARCH 15 LéXPLORE Explore virtu
Page 23 and 24: RESEARCH 17 What the diversity of t
Page 25 and 26: News in brief RESEARCH 19 Stephanie
Page 27 and 28: 21 Teaching Lehren Eawag’s teachi
Page 29 and 30: TEACHING 23 dam burst in the countr
Page 31 and 32: TEACHING 25 PEAK Course programme F
Page 33 and 34: TEACHING 27 Master students at the
Page 35 and 36: 29 Consulting Beraten Eawag scienti
Page 38: Fritz Brugger Supporting the fight
Page 41: CONSULTING 33 Raoul Schaffner, Eawa
Page 45 and 46: 37 Institution Eawag is committed n
Page 47 and 48: INSTITUTION 39 Eawag Prof. Janet He
Page 49 and 50: INSTITUTION 41 Headcount and person
Page 51 and 52: INSTITUTION 43 Peter Penicka, Eawag
Page 54: INSTITUTION 45 Advocating respectfu
Page 57 and 58: INSTITUTION 47 Environment Due to t
Page 59 and 60: INSTITUTION 49 Directorate 2022* Ja
Page 61 and 62: INSTITUTION 51 Eawag’s core risks
Page 64: Science that matters Alessandro Del

Eawag Annual Report 2022

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