A comparison of precipitation and filtration-based SARS-CoV-2 recovery methods and the influence of temperature, turbidity, and surfactant load in urban wastewater

Kevill, Jessica L.; Pellett, Cameron; Farkas, Kata; Brown, Mathew; Bassano, Irene; Denise, Hubert; McDonald, James E.; Malham, Shelagh K.; Porter, Jonathan; Warren, Jonathan; Evens, Nicholas P.; Paterson, Steve; Singer, Andrew C.; Jones, Davey L.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151916

Cited by 62 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…In addition, hepatitis E virus was detectable in raw sewage when 1%–4% of residents in a WWTP basin were infected ( Miura et al, 2016 ). Monitoring the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is also considered to be an effective approach for predicting the COVID-19 epidemic following the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewage in several countries ( Ahmed et al, 2020a ; La Rosa et al, 2020b ; Wang et al, 2020 ; Wurtzer et al, 2020 , 2022 ; Albastaki et al, 2021 ; Wehrendt et al, 2021 ; Kevill et al, 2022 ). In some of these studies, the RNA copy number of SARS-CoV-2 in the sewage was correlated with the number of COVID-19 clinical cases ( Medema et al, 2020a ; Carrillo-Reyes et al, 2021 ; Nagarkar et al, 2021 ; Street et al, 2021 ; Wurtz et al, 2021 ; Monteiro et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Wastewater Was Highly Correlated With the Number of COVID-19 Cases During the Fourth and Fifth Pandemic Wave in Kobe City, Japan

Tanimoto¹,

Ito²,

Miyamoto³

et al. 2022

Front. Microbiol.

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated respiratory infections, has been detected in the feces of patients. Therefore, determining SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in sewage may help to predict the number of infected people within the area. In this study, we quantified SARS-CoV-2 RNA copy number using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR with primers and probes targeting the N gene, which allows the detection of both wild-type and variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage samples from two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Kobe City, Japan, during the fourth and fifth pandemic waves of COVID-19 between February 2021 and October 2021. The wastewater samples were concentrated via centrifugation, yielding a pelleted solid fraction and a supernatant, which was subjected to polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA was significantly and frequently detected in the solid fraction than in the PEG-precipitated fraction. In addition, the copy number in the solid fraction was highly correlated with the number of COVID-19 cases in the WWTP basin (WWTP-A: r = 0.8205, p < 0.001; WWTP-B: r = 0.8482, p < 0.001). The limit of capturing COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people was 0.75 cases in WWTP-A and 1.20 cases in WWTP-B, respectively. Quantitative studies of RNA in sewage can be useful for administrative purposes related to public health, including issuing warnings and implementing preventive measures within sewage basins.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Wastewater Was Highly Correlated With the Number of COVID-19 Cases During the Fourth and Fifth Pandemic Wave in Kobe City, Japan

Tanimoto¹,

Ito²,

Miyamoto³

et al. 2022

Front. Microbiol.

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“…The strength of these correlations was similar between the sewers of different sizes and types. Future studies should take advantage of the method development performed by other teams during the study period that can result in higher virus yield (e.g., Kaya et al, 2022 ; Kevill et al, 2022 ) as well as in comparison with studies reporting higher sampling frequency. Nonetheless, removing wet weather dates improved the correlations with clinical cases for three of the full systems studied and the short‐term in‐system study, even when already normalizing data for flow, which may indicate that interpretation of weekly wastewater epidemiology data during wet weather events may be more complicated than simply accounting for dilution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Concentration and precipitation of viral particles from wastewater was done following a polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation method (Wu et al, 2020 ). This method was used throughout the study period for consistency while several researchers reported method comparisons and potential improvements to this method that should be considered for future research (e.g., Kaya et al, 2022 ; Kevill et al, 2022 ). Briefly, ~200–300 ml of wastewater was filtered through a 0.22‐μm mixed cellulose esters (MCE) membrane (Millipore Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Year‐long wastewater monitoring for SARS‐CoV‐2 signals in combined and separate sanitary sewers

Fahrenfeld

Medina

D'Elia

et al. 2022

Water Environment Research

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COVID‐19 wastewater‐based epidemiology has been performed in catchments of various sizes and sewer types with many short‐term studies available and multi‐seasonal studies emerging. The objective of this study was to compare weekly observations of SARS‐CoV‐2 genes in municipal wastewater across multiple seasons for different systems as a factor of sewer type (combined, separate sanitary) and system size. Sampling occurred following the first wave of SARS‐CoV‐2 cases in the study region (June 2020) and continued through the third wave (May 2021), the period during which clinical testing was widely available and different variants dominated clinical cases. The strongest correlations were observed between wastewater N1 concentrations and the cumulative clinical cases reported in the 2 weeks prior to wastewater sampling, followed by the week prior, new cases, and the week after wastewater sampling. Sewer type and size did not necessarily explain the strength of the correlations, indicating that other non‐sewer factors may be impacting the observations. In‐system sampling results for the largest system sampled are presented for 1 month. Removing wet weather days from the data sets improved even the flow‐normalized correlations for the systems, potentially indicating that interpreting results during wet weather events may be more complicated than simply accounting for dilution. Practitioner Points SARS‐CoV‐2 in wastewater correlated best with total clinical cases reported in 2 weeks before wastewater sampling at the utility level. Study performed when clinical testing was widespread during the year after the first COVID‐19 wave in the region. Sewer type and size did not necessarily explain correlation strength between clinical cases and wastewater‐based epidemiology results. Removing wet weather days improved correlations for 3/4 utilities studied, including both separate sanitary and combined sewers.

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“…In contrast, no SARS-CoV-2 genes were detected in Mintal from 22–28 November 2020, when Mintal was categorized as a LOW risk community, even when viral RNA concentration was similar to the other weeks (10.6 ng/µL). The absence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sites where new cases are reported may be caused by the varied physico-chemical [ 22 , 51 ], hydrologic, and anthropogenic factors present in a specific site [ 52 , 53 ]. Since the Mintal wastewater is more homogenous, it is speculated that viral RNA, albeit at low levels, was preserved.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multifaceted Assessment of Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2 in Selected Urban Communities in Davao City, Philippines: A Pilot Study

Otero

Murao

Limen

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Over 60 countries have integrated wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) in their COVID-19 surveillance programs, focusing on wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). In this paper, we piloted the assessment of SARS-CoV-2 WBE as a complementary public health surveillance method in susceptible communities in a highly urbanized city without WWTP in the Philippines by exploring the extraction and detection methods, evaluating the contribution of physico-chemical–anthropogenic factors, and attempting whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Weekly wastewater samples were collected from sewer pipes or creeks in six communities with moderate-to-high risk of COVID-19 transmission, as categorized by the City Government of Davao from November to December 2020. Physico-chemical properties of the wastewater and anthropogenic conditions of the sites were noted. Samples were concentrated using a PEG-NaCl precipitation method and analyzed by RT-PCR to detect the SARS-CoV-2 N, RdRP, and E genes. A subset of nine samples were subjected to WGS using the Minion sequencing platform. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in twenty-two samples (91.7%) regardless of the presence of new cases. Cycle threshold values correlated with RNA concentration and attack rate. The lack of a sewershed map in the sampled areas highlights the need to integrate this in the WBE planning. A combined analysis of wastewater physico-chemical parameters such as flow rate, surface water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and total dissolved solids provided insights on the ideal sampling location, time, and method for WBE, and their impact on RNA recovery. The contribution of fecal matter in the wastewater may also be assessed through the coliform count and in the context of anthropogenic conditions in the area. Finally, our attempt on WGS detected single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in wastewater which included clinically reported and newly identified mutations in the Philippines. This exploratory report provides a contextualized framework for applying WBE surveillance in low-sanitation areas.

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A comparison of precipitation and filtration-based SARS-CoV-2 recovery methods and the influence of temperature, turbidity, and surfactant load in urban wastewater

Cited by 62 publications

References 62 publications

SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Wastewater Was Highly Correlated With the Number of COVID-19 Cases During the Fourth and Fifth Pandemic Wave in Kobe City, Japan

SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Wastewater Was Highly Correlated With the Number of COVID-19 Cases During the Fourth and Fifth Pandemic Wave in Kobe City, Japan

Year‐long wastewater monitoring for SARS‐CoV‐2 signals in combined and separate sanitary sewers

Multifaceted Assessment of Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2 in Selected Urban Communities in Davao City, Philippines: A Pilot Study

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