Ask the PAC: Coronavirus wastewater surveillance in Petaluma

“We know that wastewater surveillance is one tool that health officials have in identifying potential future outbreaks since COVID often turns up in wastewater before it is widely circulating in a community,” said Sonoma County spokesperson Matt Brown.|

Ask the PAC

This weekly feature aims to get to the bottom of Petalumans’ burning questions and provide insight into vexing daily curiosities.

If you would like your question featured in Ask the PAC, simply email askpac@arguscourier.com.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, wastewater surveillance has become more prevalent in helping determine virus activity within a growing number of communities while also helping epidemiologists identify emerging coronavirus variants.

People infected with the coronavirus, whether or not they show symptoms, can shed genetic material from the virus in their feces, and that genetic material can be detected in community wastewater, sewage systems from city or residential toilets, showers and sinks.

Sewage from a wastewater collection system is collected as it flows into a treatment plant, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and samples are sent to environmental or public health laboratories for testing. Testing data is then submitted in the National Wastewater Surveillance System portal.

But it’s up to local jurisdictions and health departments to report such activity themselves, as they are not currently required to do so, and they must identify local partners for sample collection, testing, and public health action before beginning the wastewater treatment process.

Question: Does Petaluma participate in wastewater testing for COVID-19?

Answer: Petaluma’s sewer collection system currently consists of more than 195 miles of sewer collection pipes and nine pump stations, with wastewater in Petaluma and Penngrove sent to the Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility, where it is processed and recycled for irrigation or released into the Petaluma River, according to the city website.

But the city is currently not involved in testing its wastewater for COVID-19, said Ingrid Alverde, director of economic development and open government, in a Tuesday email. Alverde did not disclose reasoning, or whether the city has future plans to test wastewater for the virus.

Meanwhile, Santa Rosa’s wastewater treatment plant is currently sending samples to wastewater epidemiology research company Biobot to test for COVID-19.

“We know that wastewater surveillance is one tool that health officials have in identifying potential future outbreaks since COVID often turns up in wastewater before it is widely circulating in a community,” said Sonoma County spokesperson Matt Brown in an email Wednesday morning. “So this is a useful tool to pursue.”

Brown said that the county is looking into a more largescale wastewater surveillance system, and that more details will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Ask the PAC

This weekly feature aims to get to the bottom of Petalumans’ burning questions and provide insight into vexing daily curiosities.

If you would like your question featured in Ask the PAC, simply email askpac@arguscourier.com.

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