COVID-19 is an unprecedented event across the globe and significant investigation and research is needed to find solutions to this issue. Our COVID-19 CoI is the central place for water utilities to stay up-to-date with COVID-19 and the implications for the water sector.
We continue to monitor the situation closely in relation to water and wastewater developments and are providing advice and facilitating collaboration with our Industry, Research and Health members, Trusted Partners and networks.
What we are doing:
What is COVID-19?
Coronaviruses are a large and diverse family of enveloped RNA viruses. These lipid-enveloped CoV viruses are generally considered more fragile than other viruses (both environmentally, and to disinfection), however are known to cause illness of variable severity in humans, including the common cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV), and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV). The name ‘corona’ comes from their round appearance and the spikes on their surface that can be likened to a solar corona.
Implications for the water sector
Some coronaviruses can potentially survive in the gastrointestinal tract and be spread by the ‘faecal-oral’ route or via inhalation of contaminated wastewater droplets. There have not been reports of faecal-oral transmission of COVID-19 to date.
Helpful Resources
Media Links
Join our COVID-19 national research initiativeInterested in being part of our COVID-19 national research initiative? Visit our Open RFF page for further details on this initiative and how you can contribute. |
Already part of the COVID-19 national research initiative?
Click here to access the COVID-19 portal.
Join ColoSSoS, our COVID-19 national research initiative
Water Research Australia is leading an innovative, and collaborative Australia-wide investigation that aims to integrate reliable results of sewage testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus with health data for COVID-19 on a national basis.
The ColoSSoS Project – Collaboration on Sewage Surveillance of SARS-COV-2 — will track and monitor the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19 and its persistence in the Australian sewerage network, thus providing information on where it is present in the population.
Working with national experts in health, microbiology, laboratory testing, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) and policy communication, the initiative is a major collaborative effort across water utilities, health departments and researchers, with links to global expertise through the Global Water Research Coalition and The Water Research Foundation in the US.
The immediate practical application of project findings could be to inform policy regarding tightening or loosening of disease control measures such as limits on gatherings and travel, and to enable effective targeting of investment and pandemic control efforts.
Water Research Australia is working with all state and territory health authorities through the Environmental Health Standing Committee (enHealth) to ensure that project results can readily inform national COVID-19 control efforts.
ColoSSoS Project Outcomes
Work has already commenced on ColoSSoS, with many water utilities, research organisations and all health departments, committed to the cause.
It's not too late to be involved.
We welcome all contributions to this national initiative. There are numerous ways for organisations to be part of this critical initiative aimed at developing sewage surveillance as a reliable and sensitive tool to inform the current national COVID- 19 response and build preparedness for future disease outbreaks.
How you can be involved
For further information on The ColoSSoS Project please contact Project Manager Dan Deere.
To join the Community of Interest or contribute to the project, contact WaterRA Research Manager Kelly Hill, or click on the link below to view the RFF.
| VIEW RFF |