Water Sector News
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How Wastewater Testing Can Help Tackle America's Opioid Crisis
Sep 25, 2023
https://time.com/6315775/wastewater-testing-opioids/
Among the many lasting legacies of COVID-19 may be a newfound appreciation for the value of what we flush down the toilet and wash down the drain.
Among the many lasting legacies of COVID-19 may be a newfound appreciation for the value of what we flush down the toilet and wash down the drain.
Wastewater can be a rich source of information about infectious diseases, like COVID-19, as well as flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), mpox and polio, since pathogens like viruses are shed in feces, urine and saliva, all of which is drained into sewage treatment plants. Sampling that water is a good way to screen for certain viruses, and, as more people bypass the medical system and labs in favor of testing themselves at home for things like COVID-19, health agencies like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have less data from which they can monitor the ebb and flow of infections. Wastewater, however, could change that and is quickly becoming the most reliable way to track such diseases.