Wastewater collection areas are comprised of merged sewage drainage basins that flow to a shared testing location for the Tempe Wastewater BioIntel Program. The wastewater collection areas represent a geographic area for which virus activity is tested.
People infected with a virus excrete the virus in their feces in a process known as “shedding”. The municipal wastewater treatment system (sewage system) collects and aggregates these bathroom contributions across communities.
The process begins at sampling site where, over a period of 24 hours, a wastewater sample is collected along the sewer line. After the sample is acquired, it is immediately transferred to a lab where scientists prepare the sample. The laboratory analysis seeks to determine if there is a signal (or detectable presence) of the biomarker in the wastewater.
About the data:
- These data illustrate a trend of the signal of the weekly average or weekly results of Tempe wastewater biomarker groups. The dashboard and collection area map do not depict the number of individuals infected.
- Each collection area includes at least one sampling location, which collects wastewater from across the collection area. It does not reflect the specific location where the deposit occurs.
- While testing can successfully quantify the results, research has not yet determined the relationship between these values and the number of people who are contributing to the signals.
- The influence of this data on community health decisions in the future is unknown. Data collection is being used to depict overall weekly trends and should not be interpreted without a holistic assessment of public health data. The purpose of this weekly data is to support research as well as to identify overall trends of the genome copies in each liter of wastewater per collection area. We share this information with the public with the disclaimer that only the future can tell how much “diagnostic value” we can and should attribute to the numeric measurements we obtain from the sewer. However, we know what we measure is real and we share that info with our community. Data are shared as the testing results become available. As results may not be released at the same time, testing results for each area may not yet be seen for a given day or week.
- The dashboard presents the weekly averages. Data are collected from 2-7 days per week.
- For Collection Area 1, Tempe's wastewater co-mingles with wastewater from a regional sewage line. Tempe's sewage makes up most of Collection Area 1 samples.
- For Collection Area 3, Tempe's wastewater co-mingles with wastewater from a regional sewage line. For analysis and reporting, Tempe’s wastewater is separated from regional sewage.
- Week start date represents the starting date of the testing week, which starts on Mondays and ends on Sundays.
Additional Information:
Source: The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), part of City of Hope, is an Arizona-based, nonprofit medical research institute.
Contact: Kimberly Sotelo
Contact email: kimberly_sotelo@tempe.gov
Preparation Method: Initial values are provided by TGen. Tempe makes additional calculations to determine the weekly averages or weekly results for each biomarker.
Publish Frequency: Weekly or as data becomes available
Publish Method: Manual