An Important Webinar About Detecting and Tracking COVID-19 Outbreaks from Wastewater Analysis

Wastewater analysis initiatives taken by cities, municipalities, universities and others suggest the SARS-CoV-2 virus passes through human bodies and ends up in wastewater streams, and remains there for a long period longer than on the surface water.

RNA analysis of wastewater can detect this presence of virus, and if done in sewers close to the neighborhood, industrial zone, commercial area, or campus, may yield very valuable insights in the fight against COVID-19.

The Benefits of Wastewater Analysis Include:

• Detection of carriers in a given community, even if they are asymptomatic. This can assist in proactively managing healthcare resources, better planning for hospitalization surge, the allocation of hospital assets (i.e. beds and ventilators).
• Assistance in the decision to implement business closures, mask wearing, and social distancing.
• If wastewater analysis is performed on at schools and university dormitories, schools can be made a safer place for students and allow educational institutions to operate at higher efficiency.
• If wastewater analysis is done at the treatment plant, it can help verifying that treatment process is adequate to kill the virus and assist in ensuring that treatment plant discharge is 100% virus free.

In short, any type of early information or indications will help us better manage this pandemic and hopefully reduce potential threats.

This 40 minute presentation, presented by Teledyne ISCO, is a "must watch" for anyone in epidemiology, public health, wastewater treatment, and municipal water systems.

Helpful links:
https://www.teledyneisco.com/en-us
https://www.biobot.io/
https://advanceinstruments.com

Teledyne ISCO Water Samplers Assist in Coronavirus Tracking in Water Treatment Facilities

Reading the headlines today, you are seeing more and more municipalities testing their wastewater for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Viruses and bacteria excreted in urine and stool collect in public sewers. The use of sewage pathogen monitoring in wastewater treatment facilities as a public health surveillance tool is now a reality. Environmental microbiologists have studied pathogens in sewage for decades, but now because of COVID-19, public health surveillance efforts focussing on tracking virus levels is at an all time high. It is critical that expanded testing and monitoring continue, as this will certainly help in understanding how the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads and potentially affects community populations.


Teledyne ISCO, the leading manufacturer of water / wastewater sampling and monitoring tools, is helping in this effort. Teledyne ISCO manufactures a complete line of robust and reliable portable and refrigerated samplers. Using this equipment as part of their overall Coronavirus strategy, municipalities have portable and refrigerated samplers ready for widespread collection and testing. These samplers can be used in any kind of environment or test situation. They are easy to use and program, and they have many configuration options.

With so little knowledge of the SARS-CoV-2 spread, this approach may be very important. The data accumulated from the implementation of large-scale sewer sampling and Coronavirus testing may provide the information needed to build dynamic virus spread maps and, ultimately, the ability to predict and prevent flare-ups.

For more information, contact Advance Instruments. Call them at (888) 388-6446 or visit their website at https://advanceinstruments.com.