Reporting population size in wastewater-based epidemiology: A scoping review.

Knowledge of the number of people present in a catchment is fundamental for the assessment of spatio-temporal trends in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Accurately estimating the number of people connected to wastewater catchments is challenging however, because populations are dynamic. Methods used to estimate population size can significantly influence the calculation and interpretation of population-normalised wastewater data (PNWD).

Exploring indoor and outdoor dust as a potential tool for detection and monitoring of COVID-19 transmission.

This study investigated the potential of using SARS-CoV-2 viral concentrations in dust as an additional surveillance tool for early detection and monitoring of COVID-19 transmission. Dust samples were collected from 8 public locations in 16 districts of Bangkok, Thailand, from June to August 2021. SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in dust were quantified, and their correlation with community case incidence was assessed.

Testing methods to estimate population size for wastewater treatment plants using census data: Implications for wastewater-based epidemiology.

In wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), wastewater loads are commonly reported as a per capita value. Census population counts are often used to obtain a population size to normalise wastewater loads. However, the methods used to calculate the population size of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) from census data are rarely reported in the WBE literature.

COVID-19 monitoring with sparse sampling of sewered and non-sewered wastewater in urban and rural communities.

Equitable SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in low-resource communities lacking centralized sewers is critical as wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) progresses. However, large-scale studies on SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater from low-and middle-income countries is limited because of economic and technical reasons. In this study, wastewater samples were collected twice a month from 186 urban and rural subdistricts in nine provinces of Thailand mostly having decentralized and non-sewered sanitation infrastructure and analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 RNA variants using allele-specific RT-qPCR.

Sensitivity of wastewater-based epidemiology for detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a low prevalence setting.

To assist public health responses to COVID-19, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is being utilised internationally to monitor SARS-CoV-2 infections at the community level. However, questions remain regarding the sensitivity of WBE and its use in low prevalence settings. In this study, we estimated the total number of COVID-19 cases required for detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater.

Spatial, temporal and socioeconomic patterns of illicit drug use in New Zealand assessed using wastewater-based epidemiology timed to coincide with the census.

Aims: A discrete experiment in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) timed to coincide with the census was used to investigate the spatial, temporal and socioeconomic patterns of illicit drug consumption in Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Canterbury.

Methods: For seven consecutive days over census week (6 March 2018), wastewater was sampled from seven wastewater treatment plants and analysed for methamphetamine, cocaine (as benzoylecgonine) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Detailed sewer catchment maps were developed and, together with the data, were used to analyse drug consumption.

Quantifying nicotine and alcohol consumption in New Zealand using wastewater-based epidemiology timed to coincide with census.

Introduction: Accurate and timely information about nicotine and alcohol consumption is needed to inform effective policy. Wastewater-based epidemiology provides an opportunity to quantify consumption, which can complement traditional data collection methods.

Methods: Wastewater samples were collected from seven wastewater treatment plants on seven consecutive days in three regions of New Zealand during the same week as the national census (6 March 2018).

Politics, water management and infrastructure.

While modern water management has been central to the achievement of a range of beneficial social outcomes, it has increasingly drawn criticism for its disconnection from democratic decision-making, hindering efforts to develop more resilient systems. This paper examines how an experiment with more resilient water infrastructure politicized centralized water management focusing, in particular, on a stormwater re-use 'third-pipe' system at a large residential development in Auckland, New Zealand. Through analysis of resident and expert views on safety, cost and security, the paper attends (1) to the ways in which techno-managerial water management was contested and, thus, politicized through the implementation of the third pipe, and (2) how the mobilization of techno-managerial discourses by water management authorities delegitimized the third-pipe system, rendering it ultimately inoperable.

Mandatory urban rainwater harvesting: learning from experience.

Rainwater harvesting is effectively mandated in several urban areas of New Zealand. To understand the costs and benefits of rainwater harvesting from an end-user perspective, semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 homeowners in northern Auckland affected by these regulations. Residents report differences in four aspects of urban rainwater infrastructure - security of supply, water quality, the learning process and financial costs - that could represent key values for public acceptance.

A modelling approach to determine the origin of urban ground water.

A simple modelling approach was developed to link patterns of urban land-use with ground water flow and chemistry in three dimensions and was applied to characterize the origin of recharge in the aquifer beneath the old industrial city of Nottingham, UK. The approach involved dividing land uses into types, and times into periods, and assigning the recharge from each an individual tracer-solute with a unit concentration. The computer code MT3DMS was used to track the multiple tracer-solutes in transient, three-dimensional simulations of the important urban aquifer.

Microbial contamination of two urban sandstone aquifers in the UK.

Development of urban groundwater has historically been constrained by concerns about its quality. Rising urban water tables and overabstraction from rural aquifers in the UK have led to a renewed interest in urban groundwater, particularly the possibility of finding water of acceptable quality at depth. This study assessed the microbial quality of groundwater collected from depth-specific intervals over a 15-month period within the Permo-Triassic Sherwood Sandstone aquifers underlying the cities of Nottingham and Birmingham.