Intelligent water sensing for early warning of COVID-19 outbreaks

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Monitoring wastewater can be an important tool in Canada's fight against a second wave of COVID-19. Testing sewage for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, before it is treated at a wastewater treatment plant would provide information about the presence and concentration of the disease in a community, even if community members are asymptomatic. For this project, Fleming College's Centre for Advancement of Water and Wastewater Technologies proposes to collaborate with QuantWave Technologies Inc. QuantWave has developed a novel, portable microwave-microfluidic sensing system that rapidly detects pathogenic organisms in liquid matrices without the need for lengthy incubation times. The purpose of the proposed project is to assess the rapid detection system for use in detecting coronaviruses, a usage that has yet to be explored, but for which it shows promise. This project will investigate the ability of the technology to perform liquid fingerprinting analysis and identify the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in wastewater. The ultimate goal is having the technology implemented at wastewater treatment plants across the country to provide real-time ongoing wastewater monitoring. This type of monitoring can be used as a non-invasive early warning tool to alert communities to new COVID-19 infections, as well as provide information about the extent of outbreaks as they occur or as they dissipate. Installing intelligent sensors to monitor virus levels and track virus traces in wastewater will enable public health authorities to respond more quickly during the early stages of the pandemic or signal in the later stages when to proceed with relaxing restrictions.