Nowadays, with a staff of over 500 employees, Eawag is actively engaged in research, teaching and consulting in all areas pertaining to water.

The Eawag was founded in 1936 as an advisory board of the ETH Zurich for wastewater treatment and drinking water supplies.

[5] 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) 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,[6] 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-derived phosphates.

Eawag research projects aim to develop optimum approaches and strategies to meet future threats caused by increasing contamination, population growth, and climate change.

Eawag research projects develop integrated approaches and put specific emphasis on strategies to meet energy concerns in the context of trade-offs and competing demands.

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.

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