Testing wastewater may be our first-ever chance to provide proactive COVID-19 information, almost in real-time. Wastewater analysis has demonstrated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in our sewer system, which is effectively removed and destroyed during the wastewater treatment process. Recent research from various academic sources is supporting the idea that people begin to “shed” the virus into the wastewater system many days before showing symptoms. Therefore, wastewater monitoring is being employed in various locations and several examples have demonstrated this to be an effective means of detecting potential carriers of the virus as early as possible, in order to keep people safe.
The ability to rapidly detect and monitor wastewater systems allows communities and companies to quickly evaluate their situation and respond proactively to changing conditions, thereby protecting individuals and maintaining operational safety. Wastewater testing is non-intrusive and allows decision makers to be specific and targeted in how they manage cases.
But, there is a problem. Currently, measuring COVID-19 in wastewater is difficult and costly. Samples have to be taken from wastewater, prepared, shipped to off-site labs, and analyzed with expensive equipment. This can take anywhere from several hours to days to get results, costing precious time. A surveillance tool is critical for this work to be continued, but an ideal solution needs to be rapid, simple, and scalable for various applications.
This is where FREDsense is looking to change the way we do this work. We build portable field kits for some of the most difficult water quality challenges in our industry today. Our technology is based on a biologically-driven system for measuring contaminants using a new type of electrochemical testing. We designed our FRED-COVID system to rapidly test for trace contaminants of interest, such as COVID-19 RNA.
Our COVID-19 measurement solution is built on our portable and ruggedized field platform for rapid measurement of trace chemistries. The process is simple: wastewater samples are taken through a pre-sample treatment step to isolate the RNA. This RNA sample is then placed into a disposable cartridge system and inserted into one of the four slots of our field-portable device.
The device quickly measures the level of RNA and transmits the data wherever it needs to go in near real-time.
We are designing the system with the end-user in mind and looking for feedback and input from utilities, industries, and users as we produce the system. We anticipate that first pilot units will be available in early 2021. If you are interested, get in contact with us to learn more.