Sunday January 24, 2021
Image: Noun Project CC
The Narragansett Bay Commission has been accepted to participate in a COVID-19 study conducted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
The study aims to rapidly track 100 million people in the United States through wastewater surveillance for monitoring the COVID-19 epidemic and to provide best practices for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater assessment and subsequent data analysis in the country-wide.
Questions about the transmission of coronavirus through wastewater started in May 2020 when the World Health Organization started asking questions.
In October, MIT reported that the university has begun testing wastewater as a new tool to keep the campus community safe this semester.
“In a project running through the fall semester, wastewater from seven buildings on campus is being tested every day for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The project aims to determine whether wastewater testing could be a problem. effective early warning system for COVID-19 outbreaks on campus, and is being evaluated as an additional tool in the institute’s response to the pandemic, along with clinical testing, contact tracking and other measures, “reported MIT.
Bullock Point Wastewater Treatment Plant, PHOTO: NBC
How much virus is in the water
NBC’s Bucklin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in East Providence is participating in Phase I of the study, which involves testing raw wastewater influent twice a week for six weeks. Phase I will assess 10% of the US population through wastewater monitoring. Monitoring started on December 27, 2020.
In the second phase, additional treatment plants will be added to meet the goal of monitoring 30% of the US population. All data is collected by HHS and forwarded to communities, with the goal of returning data as quickly as possible so that local health departments can make quick, actionable decisions.
“Wastewater treatment has always been essential to public health, protecting our citizens from diseases and epidemics such as dysentery and cholera,” said NBC Chairman Vincent Mesolella. “It is a natural continuation of our public health mission to contribute once again to the fight against COVID. We are very proud to be a part of this research and to provide valuable data to the leaders of our country in these challenging times. “
A paper published in Nature reported, “The health risks of COVID-19 via waterborne transmission may be greater than previously thought, and wastewater needs to be further studied as a possible pathway for COVID-19 transmission. Evidence for the presence of SARS-CoV – 2 RNA in wastewater systems is accumulating around the world The high number of infected individuals in the current pandemic together with the high infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 could pose a new challenge for wastewater treatment and call for a future assessment of the risk of transfer through wastewater reuse. Such risks are expected to be highest in areas with high population density, direct exposure to aerosol wastewater and in regions that do not collect, treat and disinfect sufficient wastewater. “
“Extensive research into the frequency with which the infectious SARS-CoV-2 is detected in wastewater is urgently needed to:
(1) Critical information on the abundance of viruses in raw wastewater, treated wastewater and the receiving environment, which can be used to generate a quantitative risk assessment;
(2) information on disposal efficiencies via the wastewater treatment train;
(3) disinfection requirements according to loading and transmission of viruses through WWTPs to ensure complete removal of SARS-CoV-2 for wastewater reuse; and (4) epidemic surveillance for policymakers on the outbreak, magnitude and prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic within the community, ”the report published in August wrote.
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