Expanding the Use of Wastewater Epidemiology Tools to Improve Water Quality, Identify Service Populations under Stress, and Promote One Water Goals for a Thriving City

Water and wastewater utilities in the U.S. face the multi-faceted challenge of meeting the mandate to ensure water security and quality, while also seeking to meet social, economic, environmental, public health, and resilience goals. The focus of this study is to develop a framework for utilities to monitor opioids in wastewater and to advance the scientific evidence on wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) and inform its practice in the U.S. The researchers will include a review of the latest WBE tools, provide a protocol for utilities to follow when collecting samples for WBE of pharmaceutical opioids, and provide case studies and recommendations for use by communities, utilities, health departments, law enforcement agencies, and policy makers.