Wastewater Surveillance

Overview

Wastewater surveillance can guide public health interventions to slow or stop the spread of infectious diseases. A single sample can provide health insights into thousands of individuals, all for a fraction of the cost of clinical diagnostic tests and independent of health system access The data generated provides a more equitable view of population health, equipping policymakers with powerful data to advocate for public health resources that protect all. As climate change worsens the infectious diseases, wastewater surveillance will be a critical tool for decision makers.

Why it Matters

With limited insights on what pathogens are circulating and where, policymakers are forced to make decisions with a partial picture of community health. Continuous monitoring of wastewater, complemented by other data sources, will give clarity to ongoing and impending threats, resulting in more effective interventions.

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people are predicted to be displaced by climate hazards by 2050, often making it harder for them to access health care facilities
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hundreds of chemicals, and antimicrobial-resistant genes can be detected in wastewater
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advance warning provided by wastewater surveillance can stop disease spread

Report
Transforming Disease Detection Through Wastewater Surveillance
In fall 2021, The Rockefeller Foundation convened the Wastewater Action Group to share best practices and overcome barriers to translating wastewater data into public health action.
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Report
The Role of Wastewater Data in Pandemic Management
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, hundreds of communities have begun monitoring their wastewater for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Wastewater surveillance offers unique advantages over traditional disease surveillance. Because the data are inherently collected at a community level, they provide broad population coverage in a cost-effective manner, with one sample representing the infections of hundreds, or even millions of residents.
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Impact Stories

Novel Wastewater Toolkit Flags Covid-19 Surges Using Multiple Data Sources
A new wastewater toolkit provides public health officials with an early warning system to identify potential disease surges so they can act to stop the spread.
Fighting Disease Through Wastewater Monitoring in World’s Largest Refugee Settlement
In the world’s largest refugee community, open sewage that runs between homes in shallow trenches overflows with frequent flooding. Yet no one knows what types of pathogens are present. That's about to change.
Tribal Lands in the U.S. Benefit from Wastewater Monitoring
A partnership is supplying Tribal communities with the tools and skills needed to identify harmful pathogens in wastewater, empowering them with health insights that go beyond Covid-19.
Prioritizing Trust As Much as Technology to Prevent Pandemics
The Rockefeller Foundation’s Pandemic Prevention Institute (PPI) is supporting Yakubu and Dr. Moe in their work in Accra, Ghana, to bring wastewater monitoring for multiple pathogens to a complex environment with a large number of onsite sanitation systems and very few connected sewage systems.