Water Sector News
A snapshot of clean water stories from publications around the country, updated daily!
Wastewater Monitoring Offers Powerful Tool for Tracking COVID and Other Diseases
Mar 4, 2022
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wastewater-monitoring-offers-powerful-tool-for-tracking-covid-and-other-diseases/
In 2020 experts at the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and other public health agencies watched a presentation that many thought was impractical at the time. Several companies proposed to regularly sample wastewater from sewers and treatment plants and run tests to detect SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19. People excrete the virus in their waste, and the companies suggested that tracking levels of its genetic material, or RNA, in sewage over time would provide a quick glimpse into whether the virus was rising in an area days or even weeks before a surge in patients with COVID.
In 2020 experts at the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and other public health agencies watched a presentation that many thought was impractical at the time. Several companies proposed to regularly sample wastewater from sewers and treatment plants and run tests to detect SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19. People excrete the virus in their waste, and the companies suggested that tracking levels of its genetic material, or RNA, in sewage over time would provide a quick glimpse into whether the virus was rising in an area days or even weeks before a surge in patients with COVID.