University of Colorado monitoring wastewater to detect COVID-19
BOULDER, Colo. (KRDO) -- Come this fall, students using the bathroom inside residence halls will also be participating in an effort to detect and intercept community spread of COVID-19.
A release from CU Boulder says the wastewater surveillance system will be non-invasive. It is comprised of 23 sewer sampling stations on campus, run and tested by a team of 18 students and microbiologists.
They say between 40% and 80% of infected individuals shed the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, meaning what we flush down the toilet can contain the virus.
According to Cresten Mansfeldt, project lead and assistant professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering, any virus a student sheds through wastewater will be detected in a station’s sample about 36 hours after they flush.
Mansfeldt says they use a small pump and battery to pull wastewater from the sewage system from 4 to 20 feet below into a secure container within a cooler over 24 hours, amounting to about two gallons a day.
UCCS will not be taking part in this study and says it's primarily because they consider themselves a commuter school. A spokesperson for the university said about 90% of students live at home or off campus, so sampling wastewater at residence halls would not be beneficial.
