Studying the contents of wastewater is an especially accurate way to track the spread of the coronavirus that’s causing the COVID-19 pandemic. A single sample of wastewater can provide information that can’t be revealed through any other method, says Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden, director of ASU’s Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Halden is one of the leading practitioners of wastewater-epidemiology and is hoping to work with colleagues in the field to assess the reach of COVID-19 into communities around the country. He and fellow researchers estimate their collective work could potentially test for the rate of COVID-19 infections among as much as 70 percent of the population.

See Also: Wastewater Monitoring Gives Vital Clues About SARS-CoV-2 Spread, Technology Networks, April 24

New Coronavirus detected, monitored in wastewater, Science Daily, April 23