Campus source to sink wastewater surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Abstract

Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) offers an aggregate, and cost-effective approach for tracking infectious disease outbreak prevalence within communities, that provides data on community health complementary to individual clinical testing. This study reports on a 16-month WBS initiative on a university campus in England, UK, assessing the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sewers from large buildings, downstream sewer locations, raw wastewater, partially treated and treated effluents. Key findings include the detection of the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant in wastewater, with 70 % of confirmed campus cases correlating with positive wastewater samples. Notably, ammonium nitrogen (NH₄-N) levels showed a positive correlation (ρ = 0.543, p < 0.01) with virus levels at the large building scale, a relationship not observed at the sewer or wastewater treatment works (WWTW) levels due to dilution. The WWTW was compliant to wastewater standards, but the secondary treatment processes were not efficient for virus removal as SARS-CoV-2 was consistently detected in treated discharges. Tools developed through WBS can also be used to enhance traditional environmental monitoring of aquatic systems. This study provides a detailed source-to-sink evaluation, emphasizing the critical need for the widespread application and improvement of WBS. It showcases WBS utility and reinforces the ongoing challenges posed by viruses to receiving water quality.