Water Sector News
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Austin is testing wastewater for COVID-19 again — now you can track the results
AUSTIN (KXAN) — University of Texas at Austin researchers are once again testing wastewater samples after running out of funding for the project in the fall of last year. Paired with a new Center for Disease Control and Prevention tool, you can now track their research in real time.
UT researchers say monitoring wastewater will alert health leaders to future rises in cases before they are detected using clinical tests — which will be especially important as people stop testing regularly and resort to home tests, which are not always reported to the health department.
Monitoring wastewater at a time when cases are low could also provide earlier notice, researchers said.
“The only way to get that two-week advance notice is when the cases are so low you can spot a difference,” said Kerry Kinney, a professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. “It will be interesting doing monitoring going forward to see when cases rise. At this point, we haven’t gotten out of the pandemic to monitor for its resurgence.”