When developing a corona early warning system with the help of wastewater samples from sewage treatment plants, the test phase also begins this week in NRW. This was announced by a spokeswoman for the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig on Monday. A team of scientists and wastewater treatment plant operators wants to use the samples to gain insights into the degree of infection of the population in Germany with the corona virus.
For this purpose, samples should be taken daily from around 20 sewage treatment plants from mid-May in order to examine them for fragments of the novel corona virus. From this, the researchers want to draw conclusions about an increase in the number of infections among people in the catchment area. “We hope that we will have a methodology by autumn,” said UFZ spokeswoman Susanne Hufe.
The city drainage companies in Cologne are also involved. They operate one of the largest sewage treatment plants in Germany in Cologne-Stammheim, which treats the waste water of around 800,000 people. According to a spokeswoman, samples have already been taken there and sent to the researchers. According to a spokesman, samples will only be taken from two plants of the Emscher cooperative in Essen in a second phase.
The initiator of the project is the UFZ, the TU Dresden and the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) are also involved. Sewage treatment plant operators from more than 20 cities and regions, including Cologne, Leipzig and Eifel-Rur, are participating.
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