On December 9th, Boston’s NBC10 television news reported that wastewater being tested by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority at its Deer Island treatment facility showed the highest levels of coronavirus detected since the COVID epidemic began. Similar spikes in virus fragment concentrations were detected in wastewater around the region, see Burlington, Vermont, for example, and show the repercussions of Thanksgiving celebrations.

All around the world, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) continues to prove its usefulness and evolve into a powerful tool in responding to the COVID epidemic. WBE is being used successfully at colleges and universities for early identification and quick isolation of infected students. The data is being reported and used by local health agencies for monitoring, planning and evaluating the effectiveness of mitigation measures. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has taken the lead in developing protocols and a system (called the National Wastewater Surveillance System) to collect, store and analyze the data from wastewater testing. Health and Human Services (HHS) has provided a grant to Aquavitas to ramp up WBE testing, with the goal of getting 10% of the U.S. population into its monitoring network in a first phase and 30% of the U.S. population in a second phase. The California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) is working with the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and other Universities and public health officials on communication needs of local health departments and how to best provide them with the information they need.

There is lots of great research ongoing around WBE. A collaboration between Stanford University, the University of San Francisco, the University of Michigan and others has found that the virus RNA is much easier to detect in the solids where – of course – it gets concentrated. However, scientists still need to know the relationship between the concentrations of those RNA fragments and COVID infections in the sewer shed. In this study, the researchers used statistical models to try to get answers.

Researchers are also developing practical tools such as dashboards and web-based monitoring data. The dashboard concept is being developed in the Netherlands. Yale has developed a website for monitoring data. The collaboration between scientists all across the globe has been heartening to watch. Although there is still a lot more research needed, wastewater utilities have yet another way to be part of the solution.