COVID-19 CITY WATCH: Interview with Coral Robles

As part of its commitment to preserving the health of citizens, SUEZ launched COVID-19 CITY WATCH, a solution to screen wastewater networks for SARS-CoV-2 viral markers. Implemented in more than 100 municipalities in Spain, representing more than 13 million inhabitants, the solution is also deployed in France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Latin America. Let’s take a look back on this innovation with Coral Robles, General Manager of LABAQUA, SUEZ’s main laboratory in Spain, part of the Smart & Environmental Solutions Business Unit.

1.Could you briefly explain what is Covid-19 CITY WATCH?

COVID-19 CITY WATCH is an epidemiological surveillance platform that allows monitoring the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater, anticipating possible new outbreaks in the population.

By combining SUEZ's knowledge in sanitation networks, in environmental microbiological diagnosis, and the behavior of viruses in wastewater, and based on epidemiological and socioeconomic criteria, we have developed our DIGITAL COVID-19 CITY WATCH platform, a solution designed to provide the public authorities with a tool for graphical data visualization, through a dynamic map of the municipality with a sectorization by zones of influence that helps to trace the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

2. Can you tell us more about the LABAQUA’s activities, and how it contributed to the development of the COVID 19 City Watch solution?

LABAQUA is a national and international reference laboratory in the implementation of PCR-based techniques for the detection and quantification of pathogenic microorganisms in environmental matrices. LABAQUA has more than 30 years of experience in the validation and fine-tuning of these methods for both bacteria and viruses. This experience has allowed us to implement in a very short time the methodologies for the detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in a very complex matrix such as wastewater.

This rapid set-up and validation of the method led LABAQUA to be the first laboratory in Europe to achieve accreditation under the Standard ISO 17025 by ENAC, for the detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 not only in water but also on surfaces and air, providing analytical results in less than 24 hours.

LABAQUA is the reference laboratory for the COVID-19 CITY WATCH solution within the SUEZ Group, offering training and support for the set-up and validation of the method in other laboratories of the Group outside Spain.

3. The study of the presence and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater has been confirmed worldwide as an effective tool to anticipate coronavirus incidence outbreaks. How important is the sampling expertise in the process?

Without any doubt, the sampling plan is a key to the success of the monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. The huge experience and knowledge of SUEZ Group in the sanitation advanced operation and sampling networks has allowed designing these sampling plans, taking into account the criteria for influence areas sectorization to guarantee the representativeness of the samples, enabling assurance of correct detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. This sampling plan includes the definition of the control points, periodicity, type of samples to be taken, and how to take them. In this sense, LABAQUA also provides a sampling service accredited by ENAC (Spanish Accreditation Body) that ensures and guarantees this sampling service representativeness.

4. So far, what are the achievements of the solution?

Samplings carried out in all municipalities have allowed knowing the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material present in the wastewaters, so that, by making statistical comparisons with the previous and subsequent samples, the authorities can identify the increasing or decreasing trend in the circulation of the virus.

Thanks to the data recorded by the COVID-19 CITY WATCH digital observatory, municipalities have implemented corrective and/or preventive measures, such as perimeter closure of certain neighborhoods within the same city, or even whole cities where the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater has increased considerably. These measures reduce the movement of people controlling the spread of the pandemic avoiding the hospital services got to collapse. Based on the predictability of this tool it is possible to anticipate the evolution of the pandemic and help the regions to plan their action plan.

5. What is the future of this solution? Could it be applied to other epidemics like flu?

COVID-19 CITY WATCH is an opened platform ready for the implementation of new parameters that allow giving answers to new needs of society.

Epidemiological Surveillance through wastewater has been used for a long time in case of epidemic outbreaks. The best-known case is that of the control of poliomyelitis. During this pandemic, wastewater monitoring has been greatly strengthened as a disease control tool, allowing authorities to make decisions.

Our goal with COVID-19 CITY WATCH is to adapt it to the detection and quantification of other biological markers. For example, other viruses such as adenovirus, influenza, norovirus that also cause large epidemiological outbreaks in different seasons of the year, bacteria, and resistance genes. Even for chemical markers as inflammation indicator proteins, pharmaceutical compounds, and metabolites allowing real-time monitoring of the health, habits, and socio-economic status of the population. This kind of information offers remarkable value to both administrations and citizens.

This idea follows the concept of Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), a concept that the European Commission has included in one of its most recent documents (“Building a European Health Union: Reinforcing the EU's resilience for cross-border health threats”) where they highlight the importance of continuing with this type of Epidemiological Surveillance as a tool for early detection of possible new pandemics.