Jared Ervin, PhD, (California) and Brandon Steets, PE, (California) coauthored “Modeled and measured SARS-CoV-2 virus in septic tank systems for wastewater surveillance” in the September 2023 edition of  Journal of Water and Health.

The study was funded by the Water Research Foundation Project 5093, which is led by Dr. Chenyang “Sunny” Jiang, Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine. Coauthors included Dong Li, Hunter Quon, Sunny Jiang, Diego Rosso, Laurie C. Van De Werfhorst, and Patricia A. Holden. Geosyntec appreciates the invitation to collaborate with University of California, Irvine, and University of California, Santa Barbara researchers on the environmental surveillance of COVID-19 indicators.

Jared is a Senior Professional with more than 12 years of experience in pollutant source tracking and the use of advanced forensic tools to support TMDL compliance and improve water quality in stormwater and surface water nationwide.

Brandon is a Senior Principal with more than 22 years of experience focused on NPDES and TMDL regulations, pollutant source investigation, watershed water quality modeling, and green infrastructure design.

Journal of Water and Health is a peer-reviewed open access journal that shares information on the health implications and control of waterborne microorganisms and chemical substances. Topics include microbial toxins as well as chemical and aesthetic qualities of water.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance (WWS) at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can reveal sewered community COVID-19 prevalence. For unsewered areas using septic tank systems (STSs) or holding tanks, how to conduct WWS remains unexplored. Here, two large STSs serving Zuma Beach (Malibu, California) were studied. Supernatant and sludge SARS-CoV-2 concentrations from the directly-sampled STSs parameterized a dynamic solid–liquid separation, mass balance-based model for estimating the infection rate of users. Pumped septage (before hauling and upon WWTP disposal) was also sampled and assessed. Most (96%) STS sludge samples contained SARS-CoV-2 N1 and N2 genes, with concentrations exceeding the supernatant and increasing with depth while correlating with total suspended solids (TSS). The trucked septage contained N1 and N2 genes which decayed (coefficients: 0.09–0.29 h1) but remained detectable. Over approximately 5 months starting in December 2020, modeled COVID-19 prevalence estimations among users ranged from 8 to 18%, mirroring a larger metropolitan area for the first 2 months. The approaches herein can inform public health intervention and augment conventional WWS in that: (1) user infection rates for communal holding tanks are estimable and (2) pumped and hauled septage can be assayed to infer where disease is spreading in unsewered areas.

More Information

Download the full article here: https://iwaponline.com/jwh/article/21/9/1242/97430/Modeled-and-measured-SARS-CoV-2-virus-in-septic
Learn more about the journal: https://iwaponline.com/jwh/pages/Aims_and_Scope
For consultation on wastewater surveillance, contact Jared at jervin@geosyntec.com or Brandon at bsteets@geosyntec.com.
Learn more about Jared at Jared Ervin | LinkedIn
Learn more about Brandon at Brandon Steets (geosyntec.com)