Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 21, 2025

Quantification and Whole Genome Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Wastewater and Air Samples
Published on: June 30, 2023
Wastewater-Based Surveillance Is an Effective Tool for Trending COVID-19 Prevalence in Communities: A Study of 10
Xiaoli Pang1,2, Tiejun Gao1, Erik Ellehoj3
1Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, School of Public Health, Department of Medicine, and Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E2, Canada.
Abstract:
The correlations between SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in wastewater from 12 wastewater treatment plants and new COVID-19 cases in the corresponding sewersheds of 10 communities were studied over 17 months. The analysis from the longest continuous surveillance reported to date revealed that SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels correlated well with temporal changes of COVID-19 cases in each community. The strongest correlation was found during the third wave (r = 0.97) based on the population-weighted SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in wastewater. Different correlations were observed (r from 0.51 to 0.86) in various sizes of communities. The population in the sewershed had no observed effects on the strength of the correlation. Fluctuation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in wastewater mirrored increases and decreases of COVID-19 cases in the corresponding community. Since the viral shedding to sewers from all infected individuals is included, wastewater-based surveillance provides an unbiased and no-discriminate estimation of the prevalence of COVID-19 compared with clinical testing that was subject to testing-seeking behaviors and policy changes. Wastewater-based surveillance on SARS-CoV-2 represents a temporal trend of COVID-19 disease burden and is an effective and supplementary monitoring when the number of COVID-19 cases reaches detectable thresholds of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater of treatment facilities serving various sizes of populations.
More Related Videos
10:53Concentration of Virus Particles from Environmental Water and Wastewater Samples Using Skimmed Milk Flocculation and Ultrafiltration
Published on: March 17, 2023
06:54Author Spotlight: Understanding and Detecting Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance by Combining Culture-Based Techniques and Genomics
Published on: July 19, 2024
Related Concept Videos
Principles of Disease Surveillance
Steps in Outbreak Investigation
Quality of Water
Testing Water Quality