Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 on College Campuses: Initial Efforts, Lessons Learned, and Research Needs

Sasha Harris-Lovett, Kara L. Nelson, Paloma Beamer, Heather N. Bischel, Aaron Bivins, Andrea Bruder, Caitlyn Butler, Todd D. Camenisch, Susan K. De Long, Smruthi Karthikeyan, David A. Larsen, Katherine Meierdiercks, Paula J. Mouser, Sheree Pagsuyoin, Sarah M. Prasek, Tyler S. Radniecki, Jeffrey L. Ram, D. Keith Roper, Hannah Safford, Samendra P. Sherchan, William Shuster, Thibault Stalder, Robert T. Wheeler and Katrina Smith Korfmacher
Additional contact information
Sasha Harris-Lovett: Berkeley Water Center, University of California Berkeley, 410 O’Brien Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Kara L. Nelson: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Berkeley, MS 1710, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Paloma Beamer: Department of Community, Environment & Policy, Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, 1295 N Martin Ave., Tucson, AZ 85724, USA
Heather N. Bischel: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, 3109 Ghausi Hall, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA
Aaron Bivins: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
Andrea Bruder: Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Colorado College, 14 E Cache la Poudre St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903, USA
Caitlyn Butler: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 130 Natural Resources Rd., Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Todd D. Camenisch: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. John Fisher College, 3690 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14618, USA
Susan K. De Long: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1301 Campus Delivery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA
Smruthi Karthikeyan: Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, Biomedical Res. Facility 2, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
David A. Larsen: Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, 430C Barclay, Syracuse, New York, NY 13244, USA
Katherine Meierdiercks: Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Siena College, 515 Loudon Rd., Loudonville, NY 12211, USA
Paula J. Mouser: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire Durham, 35 Colovos Rd., 236 Gregg Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Sheree Pagsuyoin: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1 University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
Sarah M. Prasek: Water and Energy Sustainable Technology Center, University of Arizona, 2959 W Calle Agua Nueva, Tucson, AZ 85745, USA
Tyler S. Radniecki: School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, 116 Johnson Hall, 105 SW 26th St., Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Jeffrey L. Ram: Department of Physiology, Wayne State University, 540 E. Canfield St., Detroit, MI 48201, USA
D. Keith Roper: Department of Biological Engineering, Utah State University, 4105 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA
Hannah Safford: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, 2001 Ghausi Hall, 480 Bainer Hall Drive, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Samendra P. Sherchan: Department of Environmental Health Science, Tulane University, 1440 Canal St., New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
William Shuster: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Wayne State University, 5050 Anthony Wayne Drive, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
Thibault Stalder: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Dr. MS3051, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
Robert T. Wheeler: Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, 5735 Hitchner Hall, Orono, ME 04473, USA
Katrina Smith Korfmacher: Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave., Box EHSC, Rochester, NY 14642, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: Wastewater surveillance for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging approach to help identify the risk of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. This tool can contribute to public health surveillance at both community (wastewater treatment system) and institutional (e.g., colleges, prisons, and nursing homes) scales. This paper explores the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from initial wastewater surveillance efforts at colleges and university systems to inform future research, development and implementation. We present the experiences of 25 college and university systems in the United States that monitored campus wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 during the fall 2020 academic period. We describe the broad range of approaches, findings, resources, and impacts from these initial efforts. These institutions range in size, social and political geographies, and include both public and private institutions. Our analysis suggests that wastewater monitoring at colleges requires consideration of local information needs, sewage infrastructure, resources for sampling and analysis, college and community dynamics, approaches to interpretation and communication of results, and follow-up actions. Most colleges reported that a learning process of experimentation, evaluation, and adaptation was key to progress. This process requires ongoing collaboration among diverse stakeholders including decision-makers, researchers, faculty, facilities staff, students, and community members.

Keywords: wastewater surveillance; colleges and universities; COVID-19; sewage; SARS-CoV-2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4455/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4455/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4455-:d:541477

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().