New Eawag spin-off advises wastewater treatment plant

The four founders of the Eawag spin-off (Photo: Eawag, Peter Penicka) - Environmental engineer Wenzel Gruber and microbiologist Robert Niederdorfer - both Eawag postdocs - founded the spin-off Upwater together with two other partners at the beginning of November 2022. It offers measurements for wastewater treatment plants to support them in reducing process instabilities, greenhouse gas emissions as well as energy consumption. What made you decide to set up a spin-off?. Wenzel Gruber: In our research on microbiology and greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants, we have seen the practical application possibilities and also the need for these on the part of practitioners. Robert Niederdorfer: For this reason, we did not just want to pass on our research findings via publications, as it was clear to us that these insights had to go to the market, because there was a real benefit for wastewater treatment plants. Wenzel Gruber: But we didn't find any partners who had the relevant know-how and at the same time were willing to bear the risks of such a start-up. So at some point, we decided that we would try it ourselves.