Water Sector News
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Here’s how a St. Paul wastewater research lab tracks large-scale COVID trends at low cost
Jun 3, 2022
https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/heres-how-a-st-paul-wastewater-research-lab-tracks-large-scale-covid-trends-at-low-cost/
Steven Balogh is a virus hunter.
“The last two years, it’s been looking 24/7, looking at COVID, SARS-CoV-2,” he says. “Trying to figure out what the numbers are telling us.”
Balogh, the principal research scientist for Metropolitan Council Environmental Services, works inside a laboratory, tracking the virus by using its own genetic makeup.
He says he’s collected 28,000 samples since he started wastewater testing in November 2020.
“With one sample, we can tell how much virus is prevalent in our community,” he notes. “We can also see the different variants that are circulating in the community at this time.”