Sewer Signals Podcast

Last updated March 13, 2024

Welcome to Sewer Signals, a podcast highlighting utility experiences with wastewater surveillance. Here, you’ll find interviews with water professionals involved in wastewater surveillance programs from a range of utility sizes in a wide variety of settings across the US. We’ll aim to cover more or less the same topics in each interview, including how their wastewater surveillance programs got started and how they are set up, how the data are being used, and lessons learned along the way. Please email us if you’d like to be featured on the podcast.

Subscribe for free via Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, or Spotify. Or scroll down to listen to the episodes from this page. The most recent episode is shown first, but you can jump to a specific episode by clicking on one of the links below:

Season 1

Season 2

Season 2 Episode 7: Andrew Mlot with the City of Wilson, North Carolina

February 2024

“It’s just not a ton of extra effort for us. So if we can help, why not?”

About Andrew: Andrew is the Chemist at the Hominy Creek Water Reclamation Facility in the City of Wilson, a position he has held for five years. He’s been working in wastewater for seven years, after stumbling into a job in Wake Forest while paying his water bill. Andrew is originally from Raleigh, where he was born and raised and attended NC state, majoring in chemistry.

About the City of Wilson wastewater collection and treatment: The Hominy Creek Water Reclamation Facility in Wilson is a state-of-the-art regional treatment plant that processes wastewater for approximately 20,300 metered customers and a service population of approximately 52,000 people.  The City of Wilson also treats wastewater from the Towns of Black Creek, Lookama, Saratoga, and Sims. The plant is permitted to treat 14 million gallons per day (MGD) and treats about 8 MGD on an average daily basis. It employs 31 people including operators, mechanics, lab techs, and compliance staff. In addition, the City of Wilson is committed to reusing reclaimed water in areas that drinking water is not needed such as irrigation water for Wedgewood Golf Course, the Burt Gillette Athletic Complex and industrial process/cooling water. 

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • About the Burt Gillette Athletic Complex (where reclaimed water is used for irrigation): 1:55
  • Andrew’s responsibilities as a Chemist for City of Wilson WRRF and what his team does: 2:30
  • A little bit about Wilson’s pretreatment program: 3:47
  • How Wilson got started with wastewater surveillance in July 2021: 5:02
  • How Wilson figured out how to connect with the state health department: 6:27
  • Status of the program as of February 2024 and what their wastewater is being analyzed for: 7:20
  • Who Wilson’s partners are: 8:39
  • Where samples are being collected: 8:59
  • Raw influent sampling specifics: 9:39
  • Explicit BOD and TSS influent monitoring requirements per permit: 9:55
  • Primary sludge sampling specifics: 11:12
  • Sample transport specifics: 12:31
  • How the state health department manages shipment logistics with Wilson: 13:18
  • Issues with sample collection and shipment: 13:35
  • How quickly Wilson sees the laboratory results: 14:38
  • Andrew’s thoughts on what the NC Department of Health and Human Services is doing with the wastewater data: 15:35
  • How Wilson’s wastewater surveillance efforts are funded: 18:01
  • Whether the City will likely continue to support participation in wastewater surveillance: 18:26
  • Whether the public asks questions about the wastewater surveillance data: 18:53
  • Andrew’s thoughts on what else wastewater surveillance should be applied to: 19:51
  • Where Andrew would take out of town guests 21:33
  • An explanation of eastern North Carolina BBQ 22:20

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Music from Pixabay.

Season 2 Episode 6: Steve Rhode with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority

December 2023

“[The state epidemiologist’s office was] … using … [our data] … to brief the governor regularly throughout the pandemic. I would get panicked calls on Thursdays: ‘Are we going to get the data? We’re supposed to brief the governor at two o’clock this afternoon.'”

About Steve: Steve Rhode is Director of Laboratory Services at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA).  Mr. Rhode has over 35 years of environmental laboratory experience in both commercial and public laboratories.  He also serves on MWRA’s internal security task force, advising senior management on laboratory capabilities, pandemic threats, monitoring instrumentation, and the behavior of potential water contaminants. In March of 2020, MWRA’s Central Laboratory provided archived samples to Biobot Analytics, which became the basis of the first reported detection of SARS-COV-2 RNA from wastewater in the U.S. Mr. Rhode continues to manage MWRA’s ongoing wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) programs with Biobot Analytics, Verily, and a variety of academic projects.  He has contributed to several research papers on WBE topics, and served as a reviewer for the National Academies Consensus Study report “Wastewater-Based Disease Surveillance for Public Health Action”.  Mr. Rhode is a member of AWWA and WEF, and currently serves on the Advisory Council supporting the NWSS Utilities Community of Practice.

About the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority: MWRA is a public authority established by an act of the Legislature in 1984 to provide wholesale water and sewer services to 3.1 million people and more than 5,500 large industrial users in 61 communities in eastern and central Massachusetts. MWRA assets are located in an area of more than 800 square miles, spanning from the Chicopee Valley to Boston Harbor. MWRA’s wastewater system has 65 facilities, including two treatment plants, the Deer Island Treatment Plant, with a capacity of 1.27 billion gallons per day, and the Clinton Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, with a capacity of 12 million gallons per day. Combined, these two facilities treat an average of 350 million gallons per day. There are 13 pumping stations, a screen house and four remote head works, four combined sewer overflow (CSO) facilities, and two CSO storage facilities.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • Steve’s responsibilities as Director of Laboratory Services: 3:20
  • How MWRA got started with its WBE program: 4:06
  • Status of the program as of December 2023: 5:50
  • Who MWRA’s WBE partners are: 7:15
  • Sample collection specifics (who, what, where, how often, and how): 8:15
  • Even more on sample collection specifics: 10:30
  • Primary sludge sampling specifics: 11:30
  • How Biobot and WastewaterSCAN datasets compare: 12:30
  • How samples get to the respective labs: 13:30
  • How much time it takes to collect and package samples: 14:05
  • How extremely high plant flows complicate metadata entry: 14:48
  • Steve’s thoughts on what extreme wet weather events might mean for WBS data: 15:18
  • How WBS data are being used by public health partners: 15:36
  • Steve’s perception of how their public health partners view wastewater data for pathogens besides COVID: 16:40
  • Program funding, including reimbursement from WastewaterSCAN: 18:12
  • Upstream sampling in Massachusetts: 18:53
  • Challenges faced: 20:07
  • What else Steve thinks WBS should be applied to: 22:15
  • Where Steve takes out-of-town guests in the Boston area: 23:57

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Music from Pixabay.

Season 2 Episode 5: Alyssa Beck with the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut

November 2023

“There’s a lot of data in wastewater that can be shared to benefit the people that live in the communities that we serve.”

About Alyssa: Alyssa Beck is the Process Control Manager at the Grass Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greenwich, CT. Alyssa has a PhD in microbial ecology and is fascinated by the way that microbes interact with and change their environment.

About the Grass Island Wastewater Treatment Plant: The Grass Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greenwich, CT, is a 12.5 million gallons per day plant that serves a residential community of approximately 65,000 people. Treatment includes influent screening, grit removal, solids removal in primary settling tanks, carbon and nutrient removal via an activated sludge process, secondary clarifiers, and UV disinfection. Treated effluent is discharged into Greenwich Harbor, which is used for recreational activities and is tributary to Long Island Sound.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • Grass Island’s nutrient limits: 1:30
  • Alyssa’s responsibilities as Process Control Manager: 2:28
  • How Grass Island got started with wastewater surveillance for COVID in April 2020: 3:14
  • Status of the program as of November 2023: 4:07
  • Grass Island’s public health partners and who Alyssa shares the data with: 4:42
  • Sample collection specifics, including who collects samples, where they are collected and how frequently, and how the samples get to the labs: 5:42
  • How long it takes to package up the samples: 7:15
  • How the wastewater data have been used for public health action in the past and how they are being used now: 7:52
  • Alyssa’s sense of how the local health department will view the flu and RSV wastewater data: 8:36
  • How the Grass Island wastewater surveillance testing has been funded: 9:20
  • Challenges the Grass Island team has faced: 11:52
  • What Alyssa understands about the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s plans for a wastewater surveillance program: 13:00
  • What else Alyssa would like to see in the future for wastewater surveillance (hint: it’s not necessarily about adding new analytes): 14:24
  • Community response to Grass Island participation in wastewater surveillance: 16:13
  • Where Alyssa likes to take out-of-town guests in Greenwich and her favorite oyster purveyor: 17:43

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Music from Pixabay.

Season 2 Episode 4: Blair Corning with South Platte Renew, Colorado

August 2023

“Maybe in the future, your wastewater plant has a satellite public health office built into that plant and they’re testing for different diseases and things important to that community.”

Headshot of Blair Corning

About Blair: Blair Corning is the Deputy Director of Environmental Programs at South Platte Renew in Englewood, Colorado. In his current role, Blair manages programs and professionals that focus on safeguarding the environment and meeting the wastewater treatment needs of the community. Blair has over 25 years of experience in the municipal water and wastewater sector. He earned an MS in Environmental/Water Science from the University of Idaho and holds Colorado Class A Wastewater Operator, and Class A Water Operator licenses. Blair was also one of the inaugural members of our Utilities Community of Practice Advisory Council, which he has served on for the past two years.

Wastewater treatment process from South Platte Renew
Photo from South Platte Renew website

About South Platte Renew: The South Platte Renew (SPR) water resource recovery facility began operation in 1977 and was preceded by two smaller plants – one in Englewood and one in Littleton. With the 1972 Clean Water Act’s requirement of 85% BOD and TSS removal—neither of which the separate, smaller plants could achieve—a joint plant was constructed to treat the combined flow from each community. Today, SPR provides wastewater treatment for 300,000 residents.  through screening and grit removal, primary treatment, a trickling filter/solids contact process, secondary clarification, nitrifying trickling filters, denite filters, and disinfection. The average daily flow is about 23 million gallons per day. SPR runs a beneficial reuse program in which thickened, anaerobically digested, and dewatered biosolids are used in an environmentally safe and cost-efficient manner. Also, more than 95% of the biogas generated in the anaerobic digesters is recaptured as renewable natural gas and injected into the natural gas pipeline owned by SPR’s project partner and local natural gas utility, Xcel.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How SPR got started with wastewater surveillance for COVID in March 2020: 3:32
  • How the program was initially funded: 5:01
  • Status of the program as of August 2023: 5:24
  • Why SPR participated in both the Biobot and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) programs for three years: 5:52
  • Other analytes being targeted now: 6:33
  • Why having the system in place and operational (for tracking the next emerging disease) is more important than which specific analyte will be measured next: 6:47
  • SPR’s wastewater surveillance partners: 7:43
  • Who they’ve shared the wastewater surveillance data with (Arapahoe County Office of Emergency Management, city manager, council members, board members): 8:16
  • Where the samples are collected, what type of samples are collected, and who performs the sample collection: 9:58
  • What CDPHE provides to SPR for sampling: 11:15
  • How the samples get to the state lab for analysis: 11:31
  • How long it takes to get the results back: 12:15
  • Blair’s sense of how CDPHE is using COVID data from wastewater right now: 13:18
  • What Blair would want to see wastewater surveillance applied to in the future: 15:23
  • Whether there has been any discussion of illicit drug surveillance at SPR or with CDPHE: 17:27
  • Blair’s recommendation for out-of-town visitors to the Englewood/Littleton area: 18:30
  • Information about Blair’s podcast, Streaming Water with Blair Corning: 20:02

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Music from Pixabay.

Season 2 Episode 3: Akin Babatola with the City of Santa Cruz, California

June 2023

“[The response from the community has been] overwhelmingly positive [and] overwhelmingly encouraging … I think [wastewater surveillance] will keep growing … because they find it useful.”

Headshot Akin Babatola while writing on a classroom board.

About Akin: Akin Babatola is the Laboratory and Environmental Compliance Manager in the Wastewater Systems department at the City of Santa Cruz, where he has worked since 2002. In his current role, Akin focuses on understanding and managing the analyses and control of pollutants of emerging concern using innovative integrative sampling and analytical technologies, often in collaboration with U.S. Geological Survey scientists, Water Environment Federation members, and collaborators on Water Research Foundation projects. He leads scientific teams in deploying sophisticated trace chemistries and molecular technologies to resolve perpetual bacterial pollution issues on the iconic beaches of Santa Cruz and in the San Lorenzo River, which previously had a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) listing for bacterial pollution. Originally from Nigeria, Akin earned master’s degrees in molecular biology and microbiology from the University of Arizona. He is the chair of the mandated regional monitoring program Central Coast Long Term Environmental Assessment Network (CCLEAN) for major dischargers along California’s Central Pacific Coast.

Two primary clarifiers are shown in the foreground with a forest of trees and cloudy sky in the background.
Photo from City of Santa Cruz website

About Santa Cruz: Located on the central coast of California, the City of Santa Cruz has a population of about 70,000 people and is well-known for watersports such as sailing, diving, swimming, and—most notably—surfing. Keeping participants in these water sports healthy is made possible by the City’s award-winning wastewater treatment facility. Designed for 17 million gallons per day (mgd) of dry weather flow and 81 mgd of wet weather flow, the facility treats an average of about 10 mgd through screening, grit removal, primary clarifiers, a trickling filter system, and UV disinfection. Treated effluent is discharged to the ocean over a mile offshore, and methane produced by the anaerobic digesters is used to generate up to 1.3 megawatts of electricity for digester and building heating.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How the City got started with wastewater surveillance for COVID in March 2020: 3:35
  • Status of the program, including participation in NWSS via the Biobot national contract and with Verily/WastewaterSCAN: 4:06
  • The various roles the City plays in wastewater surveillance: 4:35
  • The City’s wastewater surveillance partners: 5:23
  • Who collects the samples for the City, where they are collected from, and how they are collected: 9:08
  • How much time the sample collection requires: 11:19
  • How the samples get to the commercial labs for analysis: 13:20
  • The biggest challenges faced so far: 14:00
  • What is being analyzed in the City’s samples: 16:00
  • How pharmaceuticals, including illicit and licit drugs, are perceived differently than pathogen biomarkers: 16:57
  • Response from the community so far and the types of questions they ask: 18:19
  • How the program is funded: 21:10
  • How his Nigerian relatives have received Akin’s wastewater surveillance work: 22:13
  • Why City staff are competing to present local limits to the public and city council: 23:52
  • Akin’s recommendation for visitors to Santa Cruz: 25:14

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Music from Pixabay.

Season 2 Episode 2: André Brousseau with Sanford Sewerage District, Maine

July 2023

“I think there is value there. It’s just going to make our health agencies that much better.”

André Brousseau accepting a Clean Water Advocate award from National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA).

About André: André Brousseau is the Superintendent of the Sanford Sewerage District (SSD), where he has worked since 2005. Before becoming Superintendent, André served as Chief Operator at SSD after having been a Senior Operator at the City of Saco, Maine. He is active on the executive committee of the Maine Water Environment Association, where he served as President of the Executive Board in 2010 and currently participates in the residuals management committee.  

Aerial view of the Sanford Sewerage District showing the entire treatment plant which is surrounded by a grassy field and a body of water in the upper right corner of the image.

About Sanford Sewerage District: Sanford Sewerage District (SSD), located in southern Maine, owns and operates an advanced wastewater treatment facility with a design monthly average capacity of 4.4 million gallons per day and an on-site composting facility. SSD manages 70 miles of gravity sewer and 16 pumping stations. They serve the city of Sanford, Maine, with about 22,000 residents, and provide septage disposal services for York and Cumberland counties in Maine, and a few neighboring New Hampshire communities. In 2022, the District was presented with NACWA’s water advocate award for its involvement in trying to preserve Maine’s beneficial reuse program.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How SSD got started with wastewater surveillance for COVID: 2:09
  • SSD’s experience with the early testing efforts: 3:15
  • Current wastewater surveillance program: 4:04
  • What SSD does with the data: 4:16
  • Being part of the CDC’s commercial testing program/how the program is funded: 4:53
  • What else the SSD wastewater is being tested for: 5:06
  • Partners in program: 5:13
  • Where they are currently collecting samples from (and why): 6:08
  • Potential for hauled septage to confound the wastewater surveillance results: 6:57
  • How samples are collected: 8:24
  • How flow data are tracked: 9:27
  • How samples get to the shipper for transport to the lab: 10:30
  • How André gets the laboratory results: 10:45
  • Interest from the public early on: 12:10
  • Decision to discontinue sampling after testing price increased and then how they restarted the program at the request of the City of Sanford: 12:29
  • André’s thinking about long-term SSD participation: 12:55
  • What other targets André would like to see wastewater surveillance focused on: 13:27
  • Potential challenges related to opioid surveillance in Sanford: 14:37
  • André’s overall thoughts on the program: 15:33
  • How process control and permit compliance will always be SSD’s priority: 16:07
  • Things to know about southern coastal Maine: 16:48

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Music from Pixabay.

Season 2 Episode 1: Sharon Mertons with Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wisconsin

June 2023

“When [wastewater surveillance data] gets posted — even though it may be posted by somebody else – if it’s our sewage, we’re going to get calls from the public.”

Headshot of Sharon Mertens with a body of water in the background.

About Sharon: Sharon Mertens is the Director of Water Quality Protection at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD).  In her current role, she oversees and manages all compliance testing, conveyance and surface water monitoring, and the Industrial Waste Pretreatment Program for MMSD. She has over 40 years of experience in environmental testing and monitoring in laboratory analysis, consulting, and management positions.  Sharon has been very active in the laboratory community and has served on the Board of Directors for The NELAC Institute (involved with national standards for environmental laboratory accreditation) since 2006. She has been a participant in many other advisory committees pertaining to laboratory standards and methods over her long career, most recently a founding member of the Environmental Monitoring Coalition, a group of industry leaders providing input to regulators, and the Environmental Laboratory Advisory Board, EPA’s Federal Advisory Committee for environmental laboratory issues. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Aeration basins in the foreground of the image with the Milwaukee river and the skyline in the background.
Photo from MMSD website

About the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District: MMSD is a regional government agency that provides water reclamation and flood management services for about 1.1 million people in 28 communities in the Greater Milwaukee Area. Their two water reclamation facilities, Jones Island and South Shore, treat about 150 million gallons of wastewater on a dry day and have the capacity to clean up to 630 million gallons a day, which can be needed when it rains. Milorganite, which is a pelletized, slow-release nitrogen fertilizer, has been produced at Jones Island since 1926. It is one of the nation’s oldest recycling efforts, enabling consumers to apply recycled nutrients to their lawns, flowers, vegetables, shrubs, and trees.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How MMSD got started with wastewater surveillance for COVID in April 2020: 3:15
  • MMSD’s role in wastewater surveillance: 8:12
  • Who was doing the laboratory analyses early on: 8:29
  • Program status as of June 2023: 10:05
  • Who will be doing the laboratory analyses from now on: 10:37
  • Current program partners: 11:51
  • Metadata that MMSD provides with samples: 12:08
  • Who does the sample packaging for MMSD, and how the samples get to the lab: 13:55
  • How wastewater data are being used by health departments and the public: 16:37
  • Other pathogens the state is working on including in their program: 18:10
  • What Sharon would want to see wastewater surveillance applied to: 18:57
  • How wastewater surveillance testing is different than analyzing for lead in drinking water: 19:51
  • Sharon’s thoughts on having a NWSS CoE in Wisconsin: 20:30
  • What Sharon wants people to know about Milwaukee: 22:35

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Music from Pixabay.

Season 1 Episode 10: Norma Ruecker with the City of Calgary, Alberta, and Kevin Frankowski with Advancing Canadian Water Assets

December 2022

“We’re capturing all segments of society including the marginalized segments and that’s super important.” – Kevin

“There’s a huge desire to … be involved. It’s always about resources.” – Norma

Headshot of Norma Ruecker with a blurred Pine Tree in the background.

About Norma: Norma Ruecker has worked at the City of Calgary for 11 years. As the Leader of Microbiology and Watershed Assessment, she contributes to the governance and planning for the Water Service, oversees microbiological testing, ensures regulatory compliance, provides stewardship of the watershed monitoring program, and facilitates water quality investigations and research partnerships. She earned a PhD from the Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Calgary and holds two adjunct appointments at the University of Waterloo, one in biology and one in civil engineering.

Headshot of Kevin Frankowski.

About Kevin: Kevin Frankowski is the Executive Director of Advancing Canadian Water Assets (ACWA), a partnership between the City of Calgary and the University of Calgary that focuses on research and innovation, including technology de-risking and validation. Kevin is also a co-leader of the pan-Alberta wastewater monitoring program, which monitors 80% of Alberta’s population (and more than 94% of Alberta’s urban population) three times per week. Kevin has a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Ecology from the University of Calgary and a Masters of Applied Science in Environmental (Civil) Engineering, specializing in wastewater treatment, from the University of British Columbia. 

Wastewater treatment plant is shown here with aeration basins in the foreground and a hill in the background.
Photo courtesy of City of Calgary

About the City of Calgary: Although not the capital, Calgary is the largest city in the province of Alberta. It was recently ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world and the most livable city in North America. Calgary operates three wastewater treatment plants, and their Biosolids Management Program recovers and recycles nutrient-rich organic matter from the wastewater treatment process for composting and agricultural purposes.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How Calgary got started with wastewater surveillance for COVID: 2:59
  • What was going on with Alberta in April 2020 with wastewater surveillance: 4:07
  • The importance of having interdisciplinary team members when getting the Alberta program going: 5:10
  • Partners in the Alberta wastewater surveillance program: 6:08
  • Who collects the samples for the City of Calgary, where they are collected from, and how they are collected: 7:34
  • How the samples are transported to the lab: 9:44
  • Where the samples are being analyzed and how the workflow is split between two labs: 10:30
  • How the wastewater data are being used for public health action (and by the public as a “weather” app): 12:51
  • Limitations of wastewater surveillance: 15:45
  • How the program is funded: 17:04
  • What the future looks like for wastewater surveillance in Alberta: 19:00
  • The perennial utility resource issue: 20:50
  • Challenges of collection system sampling: 22:15
  • What else they are analyzing for besides SARS-CoV-2 (hint: Influenza A and B and RSV data are included on the Alberta dashboard): 24:15
  • Norma talks about her “favorite” pathogens: 26:27
  • Kevin’s and Norma’s recommendations for visitors to Calgary: 27:49

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Season 1 Episode 9: Anna Bell with Valley Sanitary District, California

September 2022

“Wastewater is a trove of citizen health information that has been vastly underrated until the COVID pandemic … [For new pathogens,] the big challenge will be identifying what the public health concerns are and somehow creating meaningful results that can be utilized by public health officials prior to it becoming a widespread or pandemic issue.”

Headshot of Anna Bell.

About Anna: Anna Bell is the Laboratory and Compliance Supervisor at the Valley Sanitary District, where she has worked for nine years. She is also a licensed wastewater operator, with the highest certification level in California (Grade V) and Nevada (Grade IV). She is currently working on her Master of Public Administration degree at the University of North Dakota and is projected to graduate in 2023. Anna oversees the state-certified district laboratory and the environmental compliance pretreatment program, where staff perform a variety of tasks including sampling, analyzing, monitoring, and reporting the quality of the wastewater treatment process.

Aerial shot of wastewaters treatment plant in the foreground and sandy plains extending into a Mountain range on the left side of the image and a town on the right side of the image background.

About Valley Sanitary District: Valley Sanitary District (Valley Sanitary) is a California Special District governed by a locally elected Board of Directors. Founded in 1925, Valley Sanitary operates its own water reclamation facility to treat wastewater from 91,700 people in its service district primarily in Indio, CA. The facility treats approximately 6.5 million gallons per day of wastewater through two parallel treatment processes: an activated sludge process that treats the majority of wastewater and a set of oxidation ponds that receive waste solids from the activated sludge process plus some additional raw wastewater. The treated wastewater is discharged into a storm channel and becomes a source of freshwater replenishment to the Salton Sea. Valley Sanitary is a member of a Joint Powers Authority with the Indio Water Authority to undertake the beneficial reuse of water by developing a reclaimed and recycled water system.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How Valley Sanitary got started with wastewater surveillance (hint: it was May 2021 during the second HHS commercial testing contract): 2:33
  • Program partners (many!): 3:13
  • Who collects samples, where they are collected, and how they are collected: 4:06
  • Clarification on whether samples were already being collected at these locations: 5:24
  • Who is analyzing the samples for SARS-CoV-2: 6:25
  • Who is using the wastewater data: 6:50
  • How the program is funded: 8:05
  • What challenges Anna has faced with sample collection and shipment, and how she has overcome those challenges: 8:53
  • Other things Valley Sanitary is testing for besides SARS-CoV-2: 9:51
  • What Anna would like to see wastewater surveillance applied to in the future: 11:04
  • What it’s like living in Indio during the big festivals: 12:21
  • Where the wastewater from the festivals goes: 13:47

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Season 1 Episode 8: Bruce Adams with the City of Cortland, New York

August 2022

“[The local health department is] very interested in the potential uses of wastewater surveillance for public health purposes.”

Headshot of Bruce Adams with foliage in the background.

About Bruce: Bruce Adams is the Cortland Wastewater Treatment Facility superintendent, where he has worked for the past 37 years, advancing from operator trainee to department head. A Grade 4A certified operator in New York state, he is also the city’s point person for a state-funded Food Rescue and Reuse Program, in partnership with a local NGO.

Aerial view of wastewater treatment plant. Below the wastewater treatment plant is a river with a tree line on either side, and extending into the upper two-thirds of the image is the City of Cortland with homes and businesses.

About the City of Cortland, NY: The City of Cortland, located in Central NY, is known as a center for music and performing arts. With a population of about 18,000 people, the city has a rich industrial history as the site of truck, typewriter, and wire hardware cloth manufacturing. The city’s one wastewater treatment facility has a capacity of 9 million gallons per day (mgd) and treats, on average, about 5.2 mgd from residents in Cortland and three smaller outside communities. The treatment facility recently underwent an upgrade to its anaerobic digestion process to accommodate dairy waste and set the facility up to reduce its carbon footprint to near zero.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • A little bit about anaerobic digestion: 1:55
  • How Cortland got started with wastewater surveillance: 3:49
  • Program partners: 6:23
  • Where samples are being collected: 8:30
  • Bruce’s plug for the Utilities CoP: 9:02
  • New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit requirements related to influent sampling: 9:22
  • Who is collecting the samples (and how the facility’s six operators rotate functions to remain well-versed in all wastewater treatment roles): 10:48
  • Who is analyzing the samples for SARS-CoV-2: 11:27
  • How samples are packaged and how the sample shipment supplies are managed: 12:13
  • Why Bruce had to change his UPS dropoff location: 13:35
  • How often samples are collected: 14:49
  • What challenges they have faced with sample transportation: 15:01
  • How the wastewater data are being used, and Bruce’s role in interpreting the data for local elected officials, the wastewater advisory board, and the county health department: 17:26
  • How funding has evolved over time: 19:21
  • Which non-COVID applications Bruce is thinking about for wastewater surveillance: 19:39
  • How to learn more about COVID in NY state and see Cortland’s wastewater data: 21:54
  • The 1890 House Museum in Cortland: 23:00
  • The Cortland apple (although not named after his city, it is Bruce’s favorite apple): 23:58

Links to items mentioned in the episode:

Season 1 Episode 7: Blythe Layton with Clean Water Services, Oregon

July 2022

“[The county is] very interested in having the more real-time data that we can provide.”

Headshot of Blythe Layton.

About Blythe: Dr. Blythe Layton is the Research Program Manager at Clean Water Services, where she runs the molecular biology laboratory in their Research & Innovation Department with a keen eye toward QA/QC. Previously a scientist with the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Blythe earned MS and PhD degrees in Environmental Engineering and Science from Stanford University, where her thesis focused on oceans and human health generally and microbial source tracking in the coastal environment specifically.

A primary clarifier extended off the screen in the foreground and more two more buildings of the wastewater treatment plant are shown in the background.

About Clean Water Services: Clean Water Services is a water resources management utility that combines science and nature to clean water and return it to the Tualatin River to protect public health for over 620,000 residents and businesses in urban Washington County, Oregon. They run Oregon’s largest water reuse program through 1,900 miles of sewer pipes, 43 pump stations, and four treatment facilities.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How the program got started: 1:45
  • Blythe’s story about how she got a job at CWS: 2:28
  • Sampling locations and frequency: 3:56
  • Program partners: 4:30
  • How sample collection is carried out: 5:05
  • How the data are used: 5:47
  • Other targets besides SARS-CoV-2: 7:05
  • Funding sources: 8:30
  • What Blythe wishes she had known two years ago: 9:15
  • Number of staff dedicated to program: 10:44
  • How to learn more about the program: 11:26
  • Blythe’s day trip recommendations: 12:13

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Season 1 Episode 6: Phillip Bowman with the City of Cody, Wyoming, and Franz Fuchs with the Wyoming Department of Health

June 2022

Episode Transcript

“[W]ith good partners like Franz and the state health department … impacts were pretty minimal to our operations.” – Phillip

“It’s just a matter of … taking their time seriously.” – Franz

Two images of Philip Bowman are shown divided into an upper and a lower photo. The upper photo is a headshot of Philip Bowman and the lower photo is a photo of Philip Bowman wearing outdoor gear holding a fish.

About Phillip: Phillip M. Bowman, P.E., is the Public Works Director/City Engineer for the City of Cody, Wyoming, where he oversees the public works department that includes five service divisions:  Solid Waste and Recycling, Streets and Vehicle Maintenance, Water (including treated water and non-potable raw water), Wastewater, and Electric.  He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Wyoming and Colorado, and his 25 years of experience includes city engineering, project management, and design positions for various public sector agencies and private consulting firms.  He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering with an Environmental Emphasis from Michigan State University. 

Headshot of Franz Fuchs with a bookshelf in the background.

About Franz: Franz Fuchs is the Chief Data Analyst for the Wyoming Department of Health, where he has been a policy analyst and legislative liaison since 2013. When the Legislature is not in session, most of his work consists of healthcare policy research and data analysis, usually related to Medicaid, but also other duties as assigned, which is how he got involved with this wastewater project. Before coming to Wyoming, Franz had some odd jobs in the United States Navy (around two years each ship-driving, naval gunfire, and civil affairs). He has an M.S. in public policy and a B.S. in international relations. Both degrees gave Franz the skills to read the newspaper real good. His hobbies (when not chasing a two-year-old) include sleep, reading the forums at heatinghelp.com, and aspiring to finish the upstairs trim carpentry.

Aerial view of wastewater treatment plant sitting in a sandy landscape.

About Cody:  Cody, Wyoming is located 52 miles from Yellowstone National Park’s east entrance. The Wastewater Division of the City’s Public Works Department provides wastewater collection and treatment services to 10,000 full-time residents, with wastewater flows that nearly double in the summer months with visitors and tourism activities. Their infrastructure includes over 80 miles of sanitary sewer with 4 lift stations, and an aerated lagoon and rapid filtration pond treatment process that is permitted at 1.0 million gallons per day. The WWTF is in the final stages of a multi-year upgrade project that includes influent headworks and screening, UV disinfection, and a continuous flow sequencing batch reactor treatment process that is expected to go through final commissioning later in the summer of 2022.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • What it’s been like upgrading a treatment process during the pandemic: 1:53
  • How Cody initially got involved in Wyoming’s wastewater surveillance program: 2:31
  • Cody’s initial samples and sample collection techniques: 3:50
  • How the state program started up: 4:50
  • Types of sites and peak number of sites included in the state program: 7:09
  • Cody’s sampling location: 7:30
  • Cody’s sampling method: 8:56
  • Who collecting Cody’s samples: 9:30
  • What Cody is using their influent composite sampler for now: 11:12
  • Who was doing the SARS-CoV-2 lab analysis: 13:08
  • How the wastewater data were processed: 13:53
  • Franz talks about some serious statistics, including censored data and Bayesian models: 15:05
  • How the data were used for public health situational awareness: 16:33
  • Collaboration with county health departments: 17:47
  • How data were used locally in Cody: 18:24
  • How the state program was funded and why it was discontinued: 20:07
  • Interest in targets other than COVID-19: 22:11
  • Phillip’s take on program challenges but also things that went well: 22:32
  • Compensation and bonus structure, and sampling equipment reimbursement: 25:00
  • Technical assistance provided and the philosophy of taking everyone’s time seriously: 28:04
  • Franz’s take on program challenges but also things he was worried about that went well: 29:07
  • Phillip’s recommendations for visitors to Cody: 31:07
  • Franz’s recommendation for visitors to the rest of Wyoming: 34:04

Links to things mentioned in the episode:

Season 1 Episode 5: Karie Holtermann with the City of Unalaska, Alaska

June 2022

Episode Transcript

“I’d hate for all of this knowledge that’s been developed during the pandemic to be lost somehow, so hopefully we’ll continue to use [wastewater surveillance] for public health over the long term.”

Karie Holtermann standing inside a wastewater treatment building on a staircase dressed in a lab coat and wearing a face mask.

About Karie: Karie Holtermann has a BS degree in marine biology from the University of North Carolina and an MS in biological oceanography and is a returned Peace Corps volunteer from Belize. During her 11 years as a microbiologist, she has worked at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the University of Washington, a start-up research university in Saudi Arabia, and drinking and wastewater labs in California and Alaska. Karie is currently working as a microbiologist spearheading a newly created molecular microbiology program for the City of San Jose, CA. She was previously the Laboratory Manager for the City of Unalaska’s Wastewater Division.

Aerial view of Unalaska showing a boat dock with a peninsula of land extending into a water body. the landscape surrounding this piece of land is very mountainous and snowy.

About Unalaska: The City of Unalaska is the chief population center of the Aleutian Islands, located 800 air miles southwest of Anchorage in the heart of the North Pacific and the Bering Sea fisheries. With approximately 4,500 full-time residents, the City doubles in size during peak fishing and seafood processing seasons. The Wastewater Division in the City’s Department of Public Works maintains ten lift stations, 350 manholes, 20 miles of gravity sewer line, 2.5 miles of pressure sewer, and a wastewater treatment plant that screens and disinfects an average of 483,000 gallons per day of domestic wastewater from both the City of Unalaska and Amaknak Island. 

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How Unalaska got started with its program: 2:24
  • Challenges related to setting up a lab during the early stages of the pandemic: 3:41
  • When the program started and how long it lasted: 4:34
  • Sampling locations and how they were selected: 5:19
  • Types of samples collected (including how Karie collected manual composite samples from lift stations): 6:40
  • A little more on the fishing and seafood processing season: 7:49
  • Analytical method development: 9:12
  • Landfill leachate influences on PCR analyses: 11:10
  • Program partners: 12:19
  • How the data were shared: 13:44
  • How the program was funded: 15:14
  • What Karie wishes she knew in the spring of 2020: 18:20
  • Where the public can find the data and more information: 20:00
  • What Karie is working on now and her reflections on how wastewater surveillance is different (and similar) in San Jose, CA vs. Unalaska, AK: 20:34
  • What it’s been like to adjust from being very connected to the environment and the weather in Unalaska, AK to being in the midst of a dense urban area in San Jose, CA: 21:33

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Season 1 Episode 4: Bina Nayak with Pinellas County Utilities, Florida

May 2022

Episode Transcript

“You have to consider the smaller utilities and the challenge they face with trying to get involved in [wastewater surveillance].”

Headshot of Bina Nayak with a tree in the background along with grassy ground leading up to a lake.

About Bina: Bina Nayak is the Water Research Project Manager at Pinellas County Utilities where she manages research projects with government organizations, engineering firms, and academia to expand the knowledge of water quality research that will benefit the utility and the water industry. She also assists the county water and wastewater treatment plants on internal projects such as corrosion control, disinfection byproduct management, and process options for wastewater treatment. Active on Project Advisory Committees for The Water Research Foundation and in the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association, Bina has a PhD degree in microbiology from the University of South Florida.

Aerial view of wastewater treatment plant with a neighborhood surrounding it that has many homes and trees. There is also a lake running along the side of the wastewater treatment plant.

About Pinellas County Utilities: Pinellas County Utilities provides wastewater collection and treatment services through two water resource recovery facilities with a combined average daily flow of 31 million gallons per day to approximately 300,000 people on the west coast of Florida. Their wastewater collection system includes 1,143 miles of sewer and 299 pump stations. Thanks to the county’s extensive reclaimed water infrastructure, Pinellas County Utilities customers reuse approximately 18 million gallons of wastewater per day for irrigation and other uses.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How the program got started (toe-dipping phase – April & May 2020): 2:19
  • How the program continued (more frequent data collection – June 2020 to May 2021): 4:10
  • How the program further evolved (NWSS commercial testing – mid-2021 to present): 5:18
  • Program partners: 5:36
  • Sampling locations, frequency, and type: 9:05
  • How sample collection is carried out: 10:12
  • How the data are received and used: 11:32
  • The future of wastewater surveillance: 14:35
  • Thoughts on being a smaller utility in this space: 19:27
  • Program challenges: 21:11
  • How to learn more about the program: 23:42
  • Bina’s favorite Florida animals: 25:05

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Season 1 Episode 3: Dan Gerrity with Southern Nevada Water Authority, Nevada

May 2022

Episode Transcript

“It’s been a troubling time … because of COVID … but it’s also been a great opportunity to do really interesting and helpful research for the community.”

Headshot of Dan Gerrity.

About Dan: Dan Gerrity is the Principal Research Microbiologist in Water Quality R&D at the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Dan earned his PhD in civil and environmental engineering from Arizona State University, worked as a consultant at Trussell Technologies in San Diego, and also spent 7 years as an assistant and associate professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. During his career, he has analyzed drinking water and wastewater for a wide range of targets, including PFAS, nitrosamines, pharmaceuticals, endocrine-disrupting compounds, and now SARS-CoV-2 RNA. His past research focused primarily on potable reuse topics, including ozone-biofiltration and quantitative microbial risk assessment. 

Aerial view of a large river with rocky mountains on either side and a dam. The photo was taken during sunset.

About Southern Nevada Water Authority: The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is comprised of seven local water and wastewater member agencies serving more than 2 million residents in Southern Nevada. SNWA is a wholesale water provider responsible for water treatment and delivery, as well as acquiring and managing long-term water resources, for Southern Nevada. SNWA’s multidisciplinary R&D team performs leading-edge research to provide innovative treatment solutions for the One Water industry.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • How SNWA got started: 2:09
  • SNWA’s program partners: 4:58
  • Sampling locations and frequency: 7:30
  • Who collects and analyzes the samples: 10:21
  • How Dan shares the data with program partners: 10:56
  • How the program is funded: 15:15
  • Plans for expanding surveillance beyond COVID: 16:00
  • Biggest challenges: 19:15

Links to people, utilities, government agencies, and resources mentioned in the episode:

Season 1 Episode 2: Kyle Curtis with Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia

April 2022

Episode Transcript

“We do view ourselves as a public health entity … and the decision was made all the way at the top … if we can do [wastewater surveillance], we should.”

Headshot of Kyle Curtis.

About Kyle: Kyle Curtis is an Environmental Scientist with Hampton Roads Sanitation District. His background is in environmental microbiology with a particular interest in coastal systems (which he also enjoys from the perspective of a surfboard). Kyle helps HRSD develop and manage a variety of water quality projects ranging from long-term chlorophyll monitoring of the lower Chesapeake Bay to studies focusing on pathogen concentrations in wastewater.  Since 2020, his group at HRSD has largely been focused on wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and they haven’t missed a week of sample collection since March 2020.

Aerial view of Hamptons Road Sanitation District. Shown are primary clarifiers, aeration basins, and the headworks.

About Hampton Roads Sanitation District: HRSD provides service to 20 cities and counties in southeast Virginia and the Eastern Shore, an area of nearly 5,000 square miles with a population of more than 1.9 million. They operate eight major treatment plants and eight smaller plants with a combined treatment capacity of 225 million gallons per day.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • Terminology preference: 1:50
  • How the program got started: 3:38
  • Program partners: 7:30
  • Sampling locations and frequency: 9:28
  • How sample collection and analysis are carried out: 11:38
  • Description of comparison of grab vs. composite samples: 13:40
  • How the data are aggregated, shared, and used by the public: 14:56
  • How the program is funded: 18:18
  • Testing in Virginia correctional facilities: 20:02
  • What Kyle wishes he had known two years ago: 21:40
  • How to learn more about the program: 24:55
  • Kyle’s beach recommendations: 25:55

Links to papers, dashboards, and beaches mentioned in the episode:

Season 1 Episode 1: Scott Bessler with the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio

April 2022

Episode Transcript

“What you need in this is the utilities and the local health department working together to understand the needs of the health department and what the utility can do.”

About Scott: Scott Bessler is the Assistant Superintendent and Programs Branch Chief for the Compliance Services Division of the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD).  He holds degrees in Biological Sciences from Northern Kentucky University (BS, 2006) and the University of Alabama (MS, 2010). Scott also oversees strategic research initiatives for MSD. He’s a fan of Gold Star Chili, but also quite a few mom-and-pop chili parlors, some of which are linked below.

Aerial view of wastewater treatment plant showing many aeration basins and primary clarifiers.

About the Metropolitan Sewer District of Cincinnati (MSD): MSD is a wastewater utility that provides sewer service and wastewater treatment to more than 850,000 people across 290 square miles in the City of Cincinnati and in Hamilton County, Ohio. A total of about 190 million gallons of wastewater are treated daily across nine water resource recovery facilities.

Episode chapters:

  • Introduction: 0:00
  • Terminology preference: 2:00
  • How the program got started: 4:16
  • Official program title: 5:31
  • Program partners: 6:02
  • Sampling locations: 7:45
  • How sample collection and analysis are carried out: 8:21
  • Targets other than SARS-CoV-2: 10:25
  • Who is using the wastewater data and how is it being used: 11:56
  • How is the program funded: 15:26
  • What Scott wishes he had known: 16:55
  • How to learn more about the program: 18:08
  • Scott’s chili recommendations: 19:29

Links to organizations, dashboards, and restaurants mentioned in the episode:

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