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San Diego Utilities Department Monitors Wastewater For SARS-CoV-2

/in , /by /KPBS

San Diego is participating in a statewide program to monitor its untreated wastewater for the virus that causes COVID-19, it was announced Tuesday. City staff have been monitoring for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2, in untreated wastewater at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant this month. Following the test run, staff will monitor for SARS-CoV-2 three times a week from January through June 2021.

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San Diego Starts Monitoring Wastewater For Virus

/in , /by /NBC7 San Diego

San Diego is participating in a statewide program to monitor its untreated wastewater for the virus that causes COVID-19, it was announced Tuesday.

City staff have been monitoring for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2, in untreated wastewater at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant this month.

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Testing in an Effort to Flush Out the Coronavirus

/in , , /by /NPRby Elissa Nadworny

Twice a week, mathematics professor Andrea Bruder squats in the sewage tunnels below South Hall, a mostly freshman dorm at Colorado College. She wears head-to-toe protective gear and holds a plastic ladle in one hand and a to-go coffee cup in the other. Bruder hovers above an opening in a large metal pipe and patiently waits for a student to flush.

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A Quick, Cost-Effective Method to Track the Spread of COVID-19 Through Untreated Wastewater

/in , , /by /Smart Water Magazineby Hokkaido University

A group of researchers have demonstrated that, from seven methods commonly used to test for viruses in untreated wastewater, an adsorption-extraction technique can most efficiently detect SARS-CoV-2. This gives us another tool to detect the presence and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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How Your Poop is Being Used in the Fight Against COVID-19

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Lyndsay Winkley

Scientist have found an unexpected ally in the fight against COVID-19 — a tool so powerful, it might help zero in on coronavirus outbreaks before they happen.

It’s your poop.

The science of sewer surveillance, also called wastewater epidemiology, is being harnessed by the largest university in the county to help stay on top of COVID-19 cases among students.

And while San Diego is not actively using feces to try and predict COVID-19 hot spots, the city is participating in several studies to better understand this potential monitoring technique.

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Latest Raw Sewage Testing at Special Districts Facilities Does Not Detect Virus That Causes COVID-19

/in , , /by /Lake County News (Clearlake, Calif.)by Elizabeth Larson

The latest testing of raw sewage at Lake County Special Districts’ four treatment facilities found no presence of the virus that causes COVID-19 at any of the plants late in April, despite the fact that samples earlier in the month confirmed its presence.

Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger reported Friday that she received the latest test results from Biobot, a Massachusetts firm that is offering the testing as part of a pro bono program it’s conducting along with MIT, Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The tests are used to detect the presence of SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The virus is shed in the stools of infected people.

Sewage testing also has successfully tracked the poliovirus and consumption of drugs such as opioids, according to Dr. Mariana Matus, chief executive officer and cofounder of Biobot.

Biobot is seeking to use wastewater testing to proactively detect outbreaks and help governments and communities to get ahead of public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

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