Water and COVID-19 online resources

The Water Institute has published a collection of online resources on COVID-19 and water and sanitation.
Research and expert insight from our colleagues and industry partners is listed below.

Organizations

• Canadian Science Policy Centre
• Canadian Water and Wastewater Association
• Canadian Water Network 
  A curated a collection of online resources for utility managers during the COVID-19 pandemic (Updated weekly). 
• EAWAG: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology  
  Tracking the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in wastewater.
• International Water Association
• US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
  Water transmission and COVID-19 | Drinking water, recreational water & wastewater: What you need to know (March 10, 2020). 
• US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
  This website provides key EPA resources on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) including information on drinking water and wastewater (updated regularly). 
• Water Environment Federation (WEF) 
  COVID-19 water-sector specific information includes links to WEF documents, webinar recordings and other resources. 

Task Forces

• Canadian Water Network National Research Advisory Group.

• Canadian Water Network Wastewater Coalition.

• International Water Association COVID-19 Task Force.

• Water Research Foundation COVID-19 Working Groups.

Webinars/Summits

• Water Research Foundation hosts "Latest Coronavirus Research Update” webinar (April 16, 2020).
• International Water Association hosts “COVID-19: The Regulators' Response” (April 29, 2020). 
• Water Research Foundation hosts "Virtual International Water Research Summit on Environmental Surveillance of COVID-19 Indicators in Sewersheds” (April 30, 2020).
• International Water Resources Association hosts “Water and COVID-19" webinar (April 30, 2020).
• International Water Association hosts "COVID-19: Sewage Monitoring for Public Health" (June 19, 2020).

Blogs

• COVID-19 Waterblog: A collation of current scientific information and expert opinion on the presence and fate of SARS-CoV-2 in water and wastewater. 
• International Water Association: A blog series from IWA members 

Media 

• The Globe and Mail: To understand coronavirus transmission, we have to understand our wastewater (March 18, 2020).
• The New York Times: Is It Safe to Come Out of Lockdown? Check the Sewer (May 1, 2020). 
• CBC’s The Current: Covid in wastewater Episode: May 5, Part 1 (May 5, 2020).
• BBC News: Coronavirus: Sewage study could predict second Covid-19 peak (May 5, 2020).
• CBC's Day 6 with Brent Bambury: Researchers are looking to sewer systems for real-time data on COVID-19 outbreaks (May 8, 2020).

• CBC News: Testing for COVID-19 in sewage could serve as 'advance warning,' help prepare for 2nd wave (May 31, 2020).

• CBC Radio Quirks & Quarks: The key to early detection of COVID-19 outbreaks might be in sewage (June 5, 2020).

• Globalnews.ca: Ottawa-area scientists now monitoring sewage for coronavirus: ‘Now is the exciting part’ (June 16, 2020).

• The Globe and Mail:Canada needs all hands on deck for future waves of the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020)

   

Studies/Briefs

• Comparison of approaches to quantify SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater using RT-qPCR: Results and implications from a collaborative inter-laboratory study in Canada (March 2021)

• Water, sanitation, hygiene & waste management for COVID-19, World Health Organization technical brief (March 19, 2020).
• Editorial Perspectives: 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2): what is its fate in urban water cycle and how can the water research community respond? in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, co-authored by Vincenzo Naddeo, Haizhou Liu. (March 27, 2020).
• Presence of SARS-Coronavirus-2 in sewage in medRxiv, co-authored by Gertjan Medema, Leo Heijnen, Goffe Elsinga, Ronald Italiaander, Anke Brouwer (March 30, 2020). 
• Time course quantitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Parisian wastewaters correlates with COVID-19 confirmed cases in medRxiv, co-authored by Sebastien Wurtzer, Vincent Marechal, Jean-Marie Mouchel, Laurent Moulin (April 17, 2020).

• Wastewater may help predict the next COVID-19 outbreak in MSUToday, Contact(s): Caroline Brooks, Irene Xagoraraki (May 11, 2020).

• First confirmed detection of SARS-CoV-2 in untreated wastewater in Australia: A proof of concept for the wastewater surveillance of COVID-19 in the community in ScienceDirect, Warish Ahmed, Nicola Angel, Janette Edson, Kyle Bibby, Aaron Bivins, Jake W. O'Brien, Phil M.  Choi, Masaaki Kitajima, Stuart L. Simpson, Jiaying Li, Ben Tscharke, Rory Verhagen, Wendy J.M. Smith, Julian Zaugg, Leanne Dierens, Philip Hugenholtz, Kevin V. Thomas, Jochen F. Muellerd (April 18, 2020).

• Wastewater Surveillance of the COVID-19 Genetic Signal in Sewersheds - Recommendations from Global Experts, The Water Research Foundation (WRF) (June 2020).

• COVID-19 challenges the water sector, International Water Resources Association (IWRA) Policy Brief (June 2020).

• Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2, Royal Society of Canada (June 2020)

• Quantitative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from wastewater solids in communities with low COVID-19 incidence and prevalence, medRxiv (August 2020)

• Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater: Methods optimisation and quality control are crucial for generating reliable public health information