News and Resources

Testing Wastewater to Fight Drug-Resistant Infections - Oct 13, 2022

IDPH and University of Illinois Spinoff Launch Wastewater Testing for COVID-19 at Schools - Sept 29, 2022

The Illinois Department of Public Health and Discovery Partners Institute Announce Extension of COVID-19 Monitoring in Wastewater - Jun 2, 2022

Shield T3 and the Discovery Partners Institute Announce Commercialization of COVID-19 Wastewater Monitoring - Jan 31, 2022

Chicago Department of Public Health and the Discovery Partners Institute Announce Citywide System to Monitor COVID-19 in Wastewater - Dec 20, 2021

¿Agua con COVID? - The Weather Channel en Español - Mar 9, 2023
Tracking COVID-19 - WBEZ - Jan 11, 2023
'It is changing rapidly': How testing wastewater tracks the spread of COVID - CBS2 - Jan 10, 2023
COVID-19 tracker launched in Illinois - WSIL - Jan 10, 2023
The Discovery Partners Institute and the Illinois Department of Public Health launch an Online COVID-19 Tracker - Effingham Radio - Jan 10, 2023
IDPH launches online tool that tracks COVID-19 - WIFR - Jan 10, 2023
New website tracks COVID-19 in wastewater across Illinois communities - WGN-TV - Jan 10, 2023
New, interactive database shows COVID-19 levels in 75 Illinois wastewater plants - WBBM 780 - Jan 10, 2023
New website tracks COVID-19 in wastewater across 75 Illinois treatment plants - Chicago Tribune - Jan 10, 2023
New website tracks and shares COVID-19 levels in Illinois wastewater to help residents ‘make informed decisions’ - Chicago Sun Times - Jan 10, 2023
How Much COVID-19 Is in Your Wastewater? New Online Tracker Shares Illinois Data With Public - WTTW - Jan 10, 2023
Checking wastewater for resistant bugs - Crain's Chicago Business - Oct 13, 2022
University of Illinois, IDPH team up to test school wastewater for COVID-19, flu - CBS2 - Sept 30, 2022
Illinois to expand wastewater testing for COVID, other pathogens - CBS 2 - Sept 29, 2022
New way to test for COVID-19 in schools - WCIA - Sept 29, 2022
Tampons present an innovative way for scientists, researchers to test for COVID-19 in sewers - Chicago Tribune - Jul 25, 2022
One of the best tools for predicting COVID-19 outbreaks? Sewage. - National Geographic - Jul 1, 2022
A New Tool is Providing Solid Clues to COVID-19's Resurgence - WTTW - May 31, 2022
Increasing levels of COVID found in Chicago, Cook County wastewater, CDC says - ABC 7 - Mar 15, 2022
Wastewater analysis from UIC helps Chicago track COVID-19 cases, variants - ABC 7 - Feb 4, 2022
Scientists Scour Sewage for Coronavirus Clues - Discover - Feb 4, 2022
Frozen sewage slows down coronavirus surveillance - WBEZ Chicago - Feb 3, 2022
The unique place researchers are looking for Covid? Wastewater - WGN 9 - Feb 3, 2022
Another Chicago winter hazard: Frozen sewage hinders COVID-19 monitoring - Chicago Sun Times - Feb 3, 2022
The unique place researchers are looking for Covid? Wastewater - WGN - Feb 3, 2022
How wastewater can help cities track COVID community spread - WBEZ Chicago - Feb 1, 2022
Every time you poop, you're helping Chicago health officials track COVID - WBEZ Chicago - Jan 22, 2022
DPI's Charlie Catlett on wastewater initiative with City of Chicago - Health News Illinois - Jan 14, 2022
How Chicago’s sewers are helping predict COVID outbreaks - Crain's Chicago Business - Dec 22, 2021
Chicago's early warning COVID detection program gets extended - Crain's Chicago Business - Dec 20, 2021
Chicago, U of I embark on $2 million program to detect COVID in sewage - Chicago Sun Times - Dec 20, 2021
Omicron Chicago: New COVID variant detected in city as Illinois virus hospitalizations surge - ABC 7 - Dec 8, 2021
UIC Lab Tracking COVID-19 Trends and Hot Spots By Testing Wastewater - WTTW - Oct 13, 2021
Illinois to Test Wastewater for COVID-19 to Find ‘Early Warnings of a Potential Outbreak' - NBC 5 - May 24, 2021
Searching The Sewers For COVID-19 at the Cook County Jail - NBC 5 - Mar 3, 2021
How Wastewater Could Help Track the Spread of the New Coronavirus - Smithsonian Magazine - May 14, 2020

Leisman, K. P., Owen, C., Warns, M. M., Tiwari, A., Bian, G. Z., Owens, S. M., Catlett, C., Shrestha, A., Poretsky, R., Packman, A. I. and Mangan, N. M. (2024). A modeling pipeline to relate municipal wastewater surveillance and regional public health data. Water Research, 252, p.121178.

Shuchen Feng, Sarah M. Owens, Abhilasha Shrestha, Rachel Poretsky, Erica M. Hartmann, George Wells. "Intensity of sample processing methods impacts wastewater SARS-CoV-2 whole genome amplicon sequencing outcomes." Science of The Total Environment, Volume 876, 2023, 162572, ISSN 0048-9697

Tiwari, A., Leisman, K. P., Shrestha, A., Poretsky, R., Owens, S., Dorevitch, S., Grippo, M., Packman, A., Gesing, S., Catlett, C. (2022). “A Science Gateway for Wastewater-based Epidemiology - a Case Study of the World's Largest Wastewater Treatment Plant in Chicago”. Gateways; 2022 Oct 18-20; San Diego, California. Zenodo

Owen, Christopher, Dorothy Wright-Foulkes, Prisila Alvarez, Haidy Delgado, Eva C. Durance, George F. Wells, Rachel Poretsky, and Abhilasha Shrestha. "Reduction and Discharge of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Chicago-Area Water Reclamation Plants." FEMS Microbes (2022). https://doi.org/10.1093/femsmc/xtac015

Tiwari, A., Catlett, C., Poretsky R., Packman, A., Jasmin, W., Williams, C., Duffus, W., Patrick, S., Wendt, J., Wise, L., "Optimizing Sampling Strategies for Large Rural Regions", DHS/NIST Workshop: Standards to Support an Enduring Capability in Wastewater Surveillance for Public Health from 14th JUN - 18th JUN 2021.

Tiwari A, Dadhania AV, Ragunathrao VAB, Oliveira ERA. Using machine learning to develop a novel COVID-19 Vulnerability Index (C19VI). The Science of the Total Environment. 2021 Jun;773:145650. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145650. PMID: 33940747; PMCID: PMC7862885.

Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN) offers a wide range of in-person and virtual training opportunities. Please visit this link to learn more about upcoming training events.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers great resources and training modules or view a list of pre-recorded webinars.

Join EPA on September 19, 2024, 1:00pm - 2:30pm ET, for a free webinar on how to prepare your wastewater utility for disasters! This webinar will demonstrate how to use EPA’s Small System RRA Checklist and the ERP Template for Wastewater Utilities, and it will provide information on an opportunity where small wastewater system operators may be eligible to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for creating an RRA and ERP.