COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance Program Launches in New Hampshire

Concord, NH - The NH Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Public Health Services (DPHS) announces the implementation of a wastewater surveillance program at the State Public Health Laboratories to monitor COVID-19 levels in New Hampshire communities. The program will collect data to help track trends in changing levels of COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) over time in our communities, and potentially provide an earlier warning signal of rising levels. 

People who are infected with the COVID-19 virus, whether they have symptoms or not, can shed the virus in waste. Viral fragments in a community-wide samples collected from wastewater treatment facilities can help determine if the levels of COVID-19 are going up, down, or staying the same. Wastewater surveillance can provide useful information as part of a more comprehensive surveillance system, especially as data on the number of individual infections becomes less reliable.

“This is another tool we can use to help monitor COVID-19 spread in our state,” DPHS Director Patricia Tilley stated. “Wastewater surveillance does not depend on individuals testing for COVID-19, so this new program has the potential to provide additional and earlier insight about COVID-19 in our communities.” 

The participating wastewater treatment facilities include: 
•    Berlin Pollution Control Facility 
•    Dover Wastewater Treatment Facility
•    Durham Wastewater Treatment Facility
•    Hampton Wastewater Treatment Facility
•    Hanover Water Reclamation Facility
•    Keene Wastewater Treatment Plant
•    Manchester Wastewater Treatment Plant
•    Merrimack Wastewater Treatment Facility
•    Newmarket Wastewater Treatment Plant
•    Newport Wastewater Treatment Facility
•    Pease Wastewater Treatment Facility (Portsmouth)
•    Peirce Island Wastewater Facility (Portsmouth) 
•    Plymouth Village Water & Sewer District 
•    Sunapee Wastewater Treatment Plant

Wastewater data will soon be published on the NH COVID-19 website. The wastewater surveillance program is funded by a grant provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC launched the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in September 2020.