Des Moines Wastewater Sampling Helps Track Coronavirus
(AP) — The Des Moines Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation Authority has begun sampling sewage as part of a national program to track the spread of the coronavirus and its variants.
The agency announced its participation July 26, the Des Moines Register reported. Agency workers began collecting samples last week and shipping them to a national lab in Maine. The effort is being funded by the federal government and is expected to continue for eight or nine weeks.
Larry Hare, manager of the southeast Des Moines sewage treatment plant, said sewage sampling can inform officials if a dangerous virus or germ is circulating in a community.
“It will tell us whether we’re behind the curve or ahead of the curve,” Hare said.
Des Moines’ participation comes as the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus is spreading across Iowa and many other states.
Hare said the sampling is the first time the Des Moines agency has participated in a search for a virus, but it has previously provided samples for researchers looking for opioid drug use and other information.
Related News
From Archive
- Tunnel boring machine ‘Clack-A-Mole’ nears one-third completion in Oregon outfall project
- Texas A&M weighs underground transit plan with Elon Musk's Boring Co. to reduce campus traffic
- Lynchburg, Va., breaks ground on largest-ever Blackwater CSO tunnel project
- Wyo-Ben’s Max Gel, Max Bore HDD system boost drilling efficiency, performance
- Federal court halts permits for 32-mile Tennessee gas pipeline project
- Wisconsin proposes new PFAS drinking water standards to align with federal rules
- Elgin, Ill., joins EPA drinking water initiative to accelerate lead pipe replacement
- Dog River pipeline replacement in Oregon improves water supply with new HDPE pipe
- Leaking wastewater systems named top source of San Diego River contamination, study finds
- New Portable Welding System From Miller
Comments