By Mac Cordell and Kayleen Petrovia
The City of Marysville’s Wastewater Treatment Plant is being used for a new purpose: tracking COVID-19.
Governor Mike DeWine announced the Ohio Coronavirus Wastewater Monitoring Network Tuesday, a statewide effort to study samples from raw sewage to look for the virus that causes COVID-19.
Union County Health Department Public Information Officer Jennifer Thrush said research has shown that fragments of the virus that cause COVID-19 can be detected in fecal matter before cases or hospitalizations increase, giving the health department “a few days’ notice.”
The Marysville Wastewater Treatment Plant is one of 29 sites throughout the state identified for testing.
Marysville Public Service Director Mike Andrako said the Union County Health Department contacted the city in May about working with a company called Biobot.
Thrush said the health department was interested in sampling wastewater because it “doesn’t require action” that residents may see as invasive in the same ways as other testing methods.
At the time, Biobot was working to refine its testing process and algorithm for detecting COVID-19 in wastewater.
“The request involved providing weekly samples of our wastewater influent for a period of four weeks spanning May and June,” Andrako said.
Marysville sent the company samples from the wastewater treatment plant and the company sent results to the city. Andrako said the company was still working on the process so, “we didn’t really pay too much attention to that.”
When the trial period ended, Biobot asked the city to continue sending the samples, but for a fee.
“At that point we opted out because we didn’t want to pay,” Andrako said.
He explained that testing ended in June and “no sampling for COVID-19 has occurred since.”
Andrako said the Ohio Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency recently approached the city and asked them to be part of the statewide program aimed at testing for COVID-19. Andrako said the program will be used to look at trends in various sewer sheds statewide.
“We agreed to provide samples to them,” Andrako said. “I believe that starts next week.”
He said the study will not impact the way the city treats wastewater.
“It is just something we are doing,” Andrako said.
He noted that results from Marysville water testing will be listed on the state’s dashboard.
When the amount of viral fragments in the wastewater increases, Thrush said it could be a “leading indicator” that other measures will rise as well.
However, she emphasized that information from sewage monitoring will be “one more data point,” that is analyzed in conjunction with other measures like case counts and hospitalizations.
“We would never make decisions based on that one factor (alone),” Thrush said.
She described wastewater monitoring as “a tool” within the health department’s toolbox. While it won’t drive decisions, she said it can be factored into a “multi-faceted” approach.
Although it wouldn’t be decided at a local level, Thrush said Gov. DeWine has indicated that communities who experience a large spike in viral matter in their wastewater could receive state help to increase testing.
She said the National Guard could be deployed to those areas to host “pop-up testing.”
“I could see that down the road,” Thrush said.
Overall, she said testing at the Wastewater Treatment Plant helps officials “get an idea of when we’re seeing more or less” COVID-19 activity in the community.
“We don’t really know the true prevalence of this virus within our community,” she explained.