Wastewater Of Over 500,000 Iowans Being Tested For Coronavirus And Variants In City Of Des Moines

Press release from the City of Des Moines:

July 26, 2021

The DMMWRA treats, cleans and returns wastewater to the Des Moines River from 17 metro communities and over half-a-million residents. The program will be ongoing for the next 8-9 weeks as the DMMWRA takes multiple samples a week and sends them to a national lab at the cost of the program that is a partnership between the US Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, the National Institutes of Heal, and Biobot Analytics.

"A major part of our mission at the WRA is to protect public health,” DMMWRA Director Scott Hutchens said. “So any way that we can provide vital information to help fight COVID-19 is a step that we’re excited to take for our residents."

As a part of federal efforts to expand a national wastewater monitoring system for COVID-19, the program will cover over 100 million people in 50+ states across the United States with hundreds of wastewater treatment plants participating.

This program will generate information that will allow for more effective responses in the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic as testing numbers decline and will enable public health officials to accurately track the virus as vaccination coverage increases, communities reopen and variants emerge.

This press release was produced by the City of Des Moines. The views expressed here are the author’s own.