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Official Website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The .gov means its official.

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Pennsylvania Wastewater Surveillance System (PaWSS)

    The Pennsylvania Wastewater Surveillance System (PaWSS) works with wastewater treatment plants across the state and with national wastewater surveillance projects to measure viruses or other disease targets in wastewater. This helps us understand disease trends in the community.

    What is Wastewater Surveillance?

    Wastewater surveillance is the process of measuring viruses or other disease targets in a community's wastewater. Wastewater surveillance can provide important information for public health. When people are sick with certain contagious diseases, they may release pieces of the virus or other germs in their waste. These can then be measured in wastewater samples. Some benefits of using wastewater surveillance include:

    • People infected with certain diseases may shed pieces of virus or other germs in their waste before they feel sick or seek medical care.
    • Samples collected from wastewater treatment plants provide information about an entire community, not an individual.
    • An increase in viruses or other germs may be measured in wastewater before an increase in cases is reported.
    • Wastewater may help public health identify new virus strains or variants before clinical cases are found.

    PaWSS Dashboard

    The PaWSS dashboard shows trends of SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A, and RSV found in wastewater samples from locations across Pennsylvania. This information helps us understand how these diseases are spreading within communities. To see data for a specific location, select the location from the list on the left side of the dashboard. The color of the dot on the map shows the latest trend category for that site. For more instructions on how to use the dashboard, select the icon.  For more information about the dashboard itself, view the PaWSS SARS-CoV-2 dashboard FAQs.

    View the full size PaWSS dashboard

    Where Wastewater Surveillance Data Can Come From

    Wastewater samples can come from:

    • Wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs)
    • Individual buildings or group settings such as:
      • Correctional facilities
      • Dormitories on college campuses
      • Long-term care facilities
      • Schools

    Wastewater Surveillance in Pennsylvania

    Information on other wastewater surveillance programs in Pennsylvania can be found here:

    National Wastewater Surveillance Programs

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched their National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in 2020. CDC NWSS coordinates and collects data from wastewater surveillance projects around the United States. CDC NWSS also conducts its own wastewater testing which includes some wastewater treatment facilities in Pennsylvania. CDC uses these data to conduct analyses and share reports. These data can be viewed on the CDC NWSS website.

    Another national wastewater surveillance program that is testing Pennsylvania wastewater is wastewaterSCAN, led by Stanford University. Data collected through wastewaterSCAN can be viewed on the wastewaterSCAN dashboard.

    Connect with PaWSS

    For any questions or if you are interested in sharing data with PaWSS connect with the PaWSS team.