COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance Data. California

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) together are coordinating with several wastewater utilities, local health departments, universities, and laboratories in California on wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. Data collected from this network of participants, called the California Surveillance of Wastewater Systems (Cal-SuWers) Network, are submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been used for the detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 virus shed into wastewater via feces of infected persons. Wastewater surveillance tracks ""pooled samples"" that reflect the overall disease activity for a community serviced by the wastewater treatment plant (an area known as a ""sewershed""), rather than tracking samples from individual people. Notably, while SARS-CoV-2 virus is shed fecally by infected persons, COVID-19 is spread primarily through the respiratory route, and there is no evidence to date that exposure to treated or untreated wastewater has led to infection with COVID-19.

Collecting and analyzing wastewater samples for the overall amount of SARS-CoV-2 viral particles present can help inform public health about the level of viral transmission within a community. Data from wastewater testing are not intended to replace existing COVID-19 surveillance systems, but are meant to complement them. While wastewater surveillance cannot determine the exact number of infected persons in the area being monitored, it can provide the overall trend of virus concentration within that community. With our local partners, the SWRCB and CDPH are currently monitoring and quantifying levels of SARS-CoV-2 at the headworks or ""influent"" of 21 wastewater treatment plants representing approximately 48% of California's population."

Organization

California State Water Resources Control Board

The State Water Resources Control Board and the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards, collectively known as the California Water Boards, are dedicated to a single vision:...

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COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance Data DictionaryDOCX
Data Dictionary for COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance Data. California
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NWSS Data DictionaryXLSX
NWSS Data Dictionary in excel format. Valid values, required fields, data...
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NWSS Metadata.CSV
NWSS Metadata. Also available here...
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Additional Info

Field	Value
Publisher	California State Water Resources Control Board
Contact Name	California State Water Resources Control Board. Office of Information Management and Analysis. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/resources/covid-19_updates/sewershed-surveillance.html
Contact Email	[email protected]
Public Access Level	Public
Language	English
Spatial Coverage
Last Updated	April 30, 2024, 04:15 (UTC)
DCAT Modified Date	2024-04-26T23:36:30.461998

COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance Data. California

Data and Resources

Additional Info