The Water Research Foundation has opened registration for a webcast presenting the findings of Interlaboratory and Methods Assessment of the SARS-CoV-2 Genetic Signal in Wastewater (project 5089). The webcast is scheduled for Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 10:30 a.m. EST. In addition to WRF funds, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation contributed funding to support this project.
The goal of the study was to provide an assessment of 36 distinct analytical methods currently used at 32 U.S.-based laboratories and facilities to determine which method(s) provide reliable and repeatable measurement of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic signal (i.e., copies of RNA) in untreated wastewater. The webcast will also include an extended Q&A session. The study has been submitted for open access journal publication and the pre-print manuscript is available now.
“We are excited to share the results of this timely and essential research to the water community,” said Dr. Peter Grevatt, CEO of The Water Research Foundation. “The project results provide much-needed information on preferred methods to use when performing laboratory analyses for sewer surveillance studies.”
In addition, the project’s quality assurance plan (QAPP) and executive summary are available for download. The QAPP details the policies and approaches for planning, implementing, and assessing the quality assurance and quality control procedures needed to guide the successful implementation of sample collection/distribution and analytical microbiology for this study.
If you have questions about project 5089, please contact Stephanie Fevig, WRF Research Program Manager, at [email protected].
Source: Water Research Foundation
