Intelligent water sensing for early warning of COVID‑19 outbreaks
Monitoring wastewater can be an important tool in Canada’s fight against a second wave of COVID-19. Testing
sewage for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, before it is treated at a wastewater
treatment plant would provide information about the presence and concentration of the disease in a community,
even if community members are asymptomatic. For this project, Fleming College’s Centre for Advancement of
Water and Wastewater Technologies proposes to collaborate with QuantWave Technologies Inc. QuantWave
has developed a novel, portable microwave-microfluidic sensing system that rapidly detects pathogenic
organisms in liquid matrices without the need for lengthy incubation times. The purpose of the proposed
project is to assess the rapid detection system for use in detecting coronaviruses, a usage that has yet to be
explored, but for which it shows promise. This project will investigate the ability of the technology to perform
liquid fingerprinting analysis and identify the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in wastewater. The
ultimate goal is having the technology implemented at wastewater treatment plants across the country to
provide real-time ongoing wastewater monitoring. This type of monitoring can be used as a non-invasive early
warning tool to alert communities to new COVID‑19 infections, as well as provide information about the
extent of outbreaks as they occur or as they dissipate. Installing intelligent sensors to monitor virus levels and
track virus traces in wastewater will enable public health authorities to respond more quickly during the early
stages of the pandemic or signal in the later stages when to proceed with relaxing restrictions.
