Posted on Apr 6, 2022
Colorado is moving toward statewide coverage of wastewater surveillance
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/04/06/ [login to see] /colorado-wastewater-surveillance
After you take care of business and push the handle on your toilet, it's out of sight, out of mind, right?
But when the pandemic started, some folks, like Pieter Van Ry, realized there's actually gold in that stuff.
"How it began was I actually, on a Sunday morning, woke up and I read a Popular Mechanics article," he said. This was early on, March 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 infections hit. "At the end of that article, it said, 'If you have a wastewater facility and you're interested in participating in this study, please contact us.'"
As a matter of a fact, he did happen to have a wastewater facility.
Van Ry directs South Platte Renew. Its Englewood treatment plant serves 300,000 people southwest of Denver. That article Van Ry read had a catchy title: How Poop Offers Hints About The Spread of Coronavirus.
After you take care of business and push the handle on your toilet, it's out of sight, out of mind, right?
But when the pandemic started, some folks, like Pieter Van Ry, realized there's actually gold in that stuff.
"How it began was I actually, on a Sunday morning, woke up and I read a Popular Mechanics article," he said. This was early on, March 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 infections hit. "At the end of that article, it said, 'If you have a wastewater facility and you're interested in participating in this study, please contact us.'"
As a matter of a fact, he did happen to have a wastewater facility.
Van Ry directs South Platte Renew. Its Englewood treatment plant serves 300,000 people southwest of Denver. That article Van Ry read had a catchy title: How Poop Offers Hints About The Spread of Coronavirus.
Colorado is moving toward statewide coverage of wastewater surveillance
Posted from npr.org
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 2
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Quite a few places use wastewater to track presence of Covid in the community.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Great Idea, Important Job, Don't think I want to do it. Even if I had the Knowledge, Training and Experience!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth - Only Time I remember having a Septic Tank was when I was living in Brandywine, WV. With a Population of 250, that was about the Norm
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""How it began was I actually, on a Sunday morning, woke up and I read a Popular Mechanics article," he said. This was early on, March 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 infections hit. "At the end of that article, it said, 'If you have a wastewater facility and you're interested in participating in this study, please contact us.'"
As a matter of a fact, he did happen to have a wastewater facility.
Van Ry directs South Platte Renew. Its Englewood treatment plant serves 300,000 people southwest of Denver. That article Van Ry read had a catchy title: How Poop Offers Hints About The Spread of Coronavirus.
To see just how, I took a visit to the South Platte facility. On a snowy February afternoon, a hatch was opened down to a dark stream where the effluent flows into the plant.
"So this is essentially where it comes in," Van Ry said, motioning to where big pipes meet down more than dozen feet below.
Let's just say the odor did not carry the delightful fragrance of a dozen roses.
Van Ry's colleague, lead operator Brandon Hinkhouse, showed how a machine siphoned off fluid through piping into a white plastic container.
"It grabs a sample and then purges it again. Then it'll actually take a sample and that's what we collect," he said.
The South Platte team sends those wastewater samples to a Massachusetts company called Biobot Analytics. Its mission: "population health analytics powered by sewage."...
...""How it began was I actually, on a Sunday morning, woke up and I read a Popular Mechanics article," he said. This was early on, March 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 infections hit. "At the end of that article, it said, 'If you have a wastewater facility and you're interested in participating in this study, please contact us.'"
As a matter of a fact, he did happen to have a wastewater facility.
Van Ry directs South Platte Renew. Its Englewood treatment plant serves 300,000 people southwest of Denver. That article Van Ry read had a catchy title: How Poop Offers Hints About The Spread of Coronavirus.
To see just how, I took a visit to the South Platte facility. On a snowy February afternoon, a hatch was opened down to a dark stream where the effluent flows into the plant.
"So this is essentially where it comes in," Van Ry said, motioning to where big pipes meet down more than dozen feet below.
Let's just say the odor did not carry the delightful fragrance of a dozen roses.
Van Ry's colleague, lead operator Brandon Hinkhouse, showed how a machine siphoned off fluid through piping into a white plastic container.
"It grabs a sample and then purges it again. Then it'll actually take a sample and that's what we collect," he said.
The South Platte team sends those wastewater samples to a Massachusetts company called Biobot Analytics. Its mission: "population health analytics powered by sewage."...
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