IWA 2022 keynote: pandemic signals of wastewater

In this keynote, Medema discussed the hidden signals that sewage gives us and the rapid development that wastewater epidemiology has undergone during the pandemic. Many parties are working closely together now on rapidly detecting coronavirus (or other viruses) in communal wastewater. This collaborative research provides us with robust data to monitor public health structurally.

For KWR, this collaboration is an example of how joint research can make a social impact.

More on COVID-19 sewage surveillance

• Project: KWR wastewater surveillance guidance for SARS-CoV-2
• Project: SARS-CoV-2 (RNA) in municipal wastewater: hazards and opportunities

Recent publications

• Establishment of local wastewater-based surveillance programmes in response to the spread and infection of Covid-19 -case studies from South Africa, the Netherlands, Turkey and England.
• Capturing and tracing the spatiotemporal variations of planktonic and particle-associated bacteria in an unchlorinated drinking water distribution system.