The Urban Water Cycle as a Planning Tool to Monitor SARS-CoV-2: A Review of the Literature

Carlos Peña-Guzmán, María Andrea Domínguez-Sánchez, Manuel Rodríguez, Rama Pulicharla and Karen Mora-Cabrera
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Carlos Peña-Guzmán: Programa de Ingeniería Ambiental y Sanitaria, Facultada de Ingeniería, Universidad de la Salle, Bogotá 111711, Colombia
María Andrea Domínguez-Sánchez: Programa de Fisioterapia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá 111321, Colombia
Manuel Rodríguez: Chaire de Recherche en Eau Potable, CRAD, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC G1V 4G2, Canada
Rama Pulicharla: Chaire de Recherche en Eau Potable, CRAD, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC G1V 4G2, Canada
Karen Mora-Cabrera: Instituto Universitario del Agua y las Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Alicante, 03080 Alicante, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-32

Abstract: COVID-19 is a terrible virus that has impacted human health and the economy on a global scale. The detection and control of the pandemic have become necessities that require appropriate monitoring strategies. One of these strategies involves measuring and quantifying the virus in water at different stages of the Urban Water Cycle (UWC). This article presents a comprehensive literature review of the analyses and quantifications of SARS-CoV-2 in multiple UWC components from 2020 to June 2021. More than 140 studies worldwide with a focus on industrialized nations were identified, mainly in the USA, Australia, and Asia and the European Union. Wastewater treatment plants were the focus of most of these studies, followed by city sewerage systems and hospital effluents. The fewest studies examined the presence of this virus in bodies of water. Most of the studies were conducted for epidemiological purposes. However, a few focused on viral load and its removal using various treatment strategies or modelling and developing strategies to control the disease. Others compared methodologies for determining if SARS-CoV-2 was present or included risk assessments. This is the first study to emphasize the importance of the various individual components of the UWC and their potential impacts on viral transmission from the source to the public.

Keywords: COVID-19; urban water cycle; monitoring; epidemiology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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