Sandec-Eawag Updates - Q4 2025 

As we embark on a new year, we’re pleased to share our last quarter’s highlights from the Sandec Department  at Eawag  – the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. In this update we share key updates, outputs, and academic publications related to our work from October – December 2025. 

If you have any questions, comments, or opportunities for collaboration, please feel free to reach out to Jess MacArthur (Knowledge Broker at Sandec) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Water
The  Water Supply and Treatment  and  Water Safety Management  teams continue to support improvements to water quality, chlorination and water governance in communities and health care facilities.

• Compendium of drinking-water systems and technologies from source to consumer - Compendium
• Learning Brief: Chlorination Technologies for Small Piped Supplies in Nepal: Practical Implementation Guide - Working Document – Learning Brief
• How does the Faircap portal lab perform in detecting E.Coli? Validation of a novel, low-cost, and low-power Escherichia coli detection kit ( Boyer et al. 2025)   

Sanitation
The  Management of Excreta, Wastewater and Sludge  team proceeds with its research on innovative wastewater treatment processes and technologies. The  Strategic Environmental Sanitation Planning  team furthers its work on integrated and inclusive sanitation planning and studying decentralised wastewater treatment and reuse. 

• Policy Brief: Science-based policy recommendations for non-sewered sanitation in urban areas - Policy Brief
• Does heating samples increase how much rotavirus RNA tests can detect? Importance of a heat snap in RT-PCR quantification of rotavirus double-stranded RNA in wastewater ( Kang et al. 2025 )  

Solid Waste
Sandec’s  Municipal Solid Waste Management  team continues to develop applied and context-focused waste solutions that safeguard human health and the environment, often working directly with decision-makers.

• Guidelines: Humanitarian Aid Solid Waste Assessment and Improvement (HAWAI) Guidelines - PDF publication and tools
• Does amount of litter and prevalence of dumps link to spatial features of a neighbourhood? The geography of waste: Explaining the spatial variation of litter and dumpsites in Indonesia ( Frigo et al. 2025 )
• What is the market potential of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) in Malawi?  Market potential of Black Soldier Fly Larvae-based feed as a driver of agricultural and environmental sustainability. A case of Malawi ( Mnthambala et al., 2025 )  

Cross-cutting
Through integrated programs such as WABES and the Organizations and Climate group, Sandec’s teams continue to explore cross-cutting themes focused on sustainability and resilience. 

• Policy Brief: Strengthening utility partnerships - fostering sustainable, resilient and inclusive sanitation in Kenya - Policy Brief
• What are the main challenges to bringing together water, sanitation and solid waste in Uganda?  Political economy barriers on the integration of water, sanitation, and solid waste management services in Ugandan towns ( Sakaya et al. 2025 )  

Learning
The WASH Learning Lab , in close collaboration with all research groups at Sandec, is dedicated to advancing education in water, sanitation, and solid waste management. We design learning experiences that combine scientific evidence with practical relevance for students, practitioners, and institutions globally.

• Practice-oriented WASH programme at Somali National University - A total of 107 Public Health students successfully completed the WASH lecture, while 20 students who had completed the lecture in the previous year carried out applied projects on improving solid waste management in Mogadishu.

• WASH learning beyond the classroom at Makerere University, Uganda - 160 Bsc students joined the lectures that included site visits, lab training, and inputs from Ugandan WASH experts. 

• From university to schools – A WASH collaboration of Jigjiga University, Ethiopia & Eawag - Following a three-week WASH training, 30 students from public health and related disciplines carried out WASH awareness-raising campaigns in 15 schools in Jigjiga.

• WASH Short Courses at MMTU, Sierra Leone - 100 students at Milton Margai Technical University successfully completed the WASH short course programme that included learning with online courses, visit of the faecal sludge treatment plant and onsite sessions.

Sandec conducts projects worldwide in close collaboration with international and local partner organisations. These projects contribute to increasing the research capacity and professional expertise in the partner countries and are part of the work of our research groups and the WASH Learning Lab

• Management of Excreta, Wastewater and Sludge  
• Municipal Solid Waste Management
• Organizations and Climate
• Public Health, Infrastructure and Climate
• Strategic Environmental Sanitation Planning  
• WASH Learning Lab
• Water Safety Management  
• Water Supply and Treatment