Project hopes to estimate COVID-19 infection levels by testing wastewater

Teams of researchers from the University of Utah, Brigham Young University and Utah State University have begun a project aimed at tracing coronavirus infection levels by detecting it in wastewater. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality launched the project, hoping it will help it estimate the number of infections in the community without having to test everyone.

Since most people in the state will not be tested for coronavirus, researchers think identifying the virus in sewage at wastewater treatment plants could be a good way to estimate the number of coronavirus infections in a given community.

“We know there’s a very real possibility that people are excreting virus whether they are symptomatic or not,” said Erica Gaddis, director of the Utah Division of Water Quality. “We are testing this concept at a number of facilities across Utah.”

Researchers have found traces of the novel coronavirus in wastewater in the United States and in Europe.

“The initial results show that we can detect the virus,” said Gaddis. “I should emphasize that the way that we are handling the samples, the virus is not live, so we’re just looking at the genetic material to see the infection levels and how they may vary across the state.”

The researchers have started a three-week pilot program at nine wastewater treatment plants to see if that testing could be an effective tool for the public health system.