Waste Water
COVID-19: mitigating transmission via wastewater plumbing systems
This article provides a set of recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through the plumbing systems of shared dwelling units especially given the interconnectedness of the plumbing network, high concentrations of infected individuals in self isolation, and higher concentrations of people staying at home putting stress on the system.
Measurement of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater tracks community infection dynamics
This article demonstrates the utility of monitoring SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in wastewater by providing considerable advance notice of infections in communities where there is a delay in surveillance at the population level
SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater: potential health risk, but also data source
This brief provides data on the sampling of wastewater at an airport in the Netherlands in early February of 2020 which used RT-PCR to detect SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater from potentially symptomatic, asymptomatic, or presymptomatic individuals passing through the airport. The findings indicate the use of waste water surveillance as an early warning tool as was previously shown for the poliovirus.
SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater: State of the knowledge and research needs
The major transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 include inhalation of aerosol/droplet and person-to-person contact, though currently available evidence indicates that viral RNA is present in wastewater which suggests the need to better understand wastewater as potential sources of epidemiological data and human health risks. This review examines the potential of wastewater surveillance to understand the epidemiology of COVID-19, methodologies for the detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, and information relevant for human health risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2.
National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS)
Check out the CDC’s new public health tool that uses wastewater surveillance to better understand how COVID-19 spreads in communities.
Wastewater surveillance for population-wide Covid-19: The present and future
One of the most important tools in reducing the spread of COVID-19 infections is identifying individuals as quickly as possible in order to limit the amount of people they could spread the virus to. Large scale testing of individuals is effective but there are a lot of challenges in providing a fast survey of a large population. Wastewater Based Epidemiology, using biomarkers for SARS-CoV-2, holds the potential to be used as a tool to test entire communities for COVID-19 infections.
OHSU study will screen wastewater, test volunteers for coronavirus
Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR is partnering with a local nonprofit to collect samples of wastewater and voluntary saliva tests to track the spread of COVID-19 in the community and hopefully use the method to track and prevent the spread of the virus especially in communities of color that have been disproportionately affected by the virus.
First confirmed detection of SARS-CoV-2 in untreated wastewater in Australia: A proof of concept for the wastewater surveillance of COVID-19 in the community
Infection with SARS-CoV-2 is accompanied by the shedding of the virus in stool which accumulates in wastewater. The quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater affords the ability to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 infections among the population via wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).This article is a proof of concept study and shows that SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in untreated wastewater in Australia.
First detection of SARS-CoV-2 in untreated wastewaters in Italy
In response to the COVID-10 pandemic, many reports have described the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in stools from COVID-19 patients, and a few studies reported the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewaters worldwide. Italy is among the world's worst-affected countries though there are no studies assessing the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in Italian wastewaters. This study examined waste water from 12 WWTP locations in Milan and Rome between February and April 2020. The study confirms that WBE has the potential to be applied to SARS-CoV-2 as a sensitive tool to study spatial and temporal trends of virus circulation in the population
COVID-19 Wastewater Testing in NYC
Click here to read about wastewater testing with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection in partnership with local universities and agencies. The group is testing water from the country’s largest municipally-owned water, sewer, and wastewater treatment utility, serving over 8 million residents of New York City.
SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater anticipated COVID-19 occurrence in a low prevalence area
To further investigate the fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from COVID-19 positive patients, the authors investigated the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in WWTPs serving major municipalities in Spain. The data was compared to COVID-19 cases at the municipality level which revealed that the community was shedding SARS-CoV-2 RNA before the cases were reported to national authorities. This study further highlights the importance of wastewater based epidemiology as an early indicator of the spread of COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2 from faeces to wastewater treatment: What do we know? A review
Given that the stool from an infected patient can remain positive for SARS-CoV-2 even after the respiratory tract is negative, this review aims to understand the role of SARS-CoV-2 in feces and sewage and it’s downstream impacts on wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)
Early SARS-CoV-2 outbreak detection by sewage-based epidemiology
WBE can be used to determine the scale of COVID-19 outbreak. This approach has been successfully used to track and provide early warnings of outbreaks of pathogenic viruses such as Hepatitis A, Poliovirus and Norovirus. In untreated wastewater SARS-CoV-2 can survive from hours to days. New, cheaper and faster monitoring tools are being developed to detect COVID-19 in wastewater by biosensors, ELISA, or paper-based indicator methods which will allow us to reveal the true scale of COVID-19 outbreaks associated with population link to a specific wastewater treatment plant.
From the Wastewater Drain, Solid Pandemic Data
This article gives a look into the rise of wastewater epidemiology and the research on COVID-19 in wastewater across the country. A team of researchers at the University of Missouri, Queens College and The New School have been working to identify COVID-19 variants from the wastewater in the Missouri and NYC areas.
How waste water is helping South Africa fight COVID-19
South Africa is one of a handful of countries rolling out wastewater testing nationwide. The samplings help researchers determine what pathogens might be present in the water, providing an unbiased snapshot of community health.