Infographic titled “How Long Should it Take to Collect, Package, and Ship Samples” from the Water Environment Federation (WEF) showing the time required to collect, package, and ship wastewater surveillance samples. The infographic is divided into two sections: Core Activities and Optional Activities.

Core Activities:

Collect sample: 0-160 minutes
Package sample: 10 minutes
Fill out chain of custody: 5 minutes
Document metadata: 10-15 minutes
Transport sample: 0-120 minutes
Check sample supplies: 10 minutes
Total: 25-160 minutes

Optional Activities:

Attending meetings: 0-60 minutes
Sharing data with leadership: 0-60 minutes
Responding to public: 0-30 minutes
Total: 30-180 minutes
The infographic also includes the following information:

The least labor-intensive approach, requiring 20 to 40 minutes per sampling event, is to collect samples at the influent to a water resource recovery facility already equipped with an autosampler and rely on courier pickup for sample transport.
Consideration should also be given to the time required for meetings, answering questions from the public, and other “optional” activities.