About CDC's Wastewater Monitoring Program

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Key points

  • Wastewater monitoring is a valuable, efficient, and robust tool.
  • Public health officials across the nation can use wastewater monitoring data to guide decision making.
Illustration of wastewater surveillance: a person washing hands and a toilet connected by pipes to a magnified view of microbes, leading to a computer screen displaying trend data.

Overview

CDC's wastewater monitoring program, also known as the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS), provides the public health infrastructure to monitor infectious diseases through wastewater across the country.

Wastewater monitoring data can be used to:

  • Help local public health agencies identify outbreak trends early
  • Direct prevention efforts to where they are most needed
  • Provide additional insight into disease spread
  • Complement other public health surveillance data

Health departments, community leaders, and individuals can use wastewater monitoring data to make decisions about how best to protect their community.

Participating sites

Data sources

Data displayed by CDC's wastewater monitoring program includes data collected and reported by state and local public health departments, CDC's national wastewater testing contract, and an academic partner group.

Contact your state or local health department to learn more about wastewater monitoring efforts in your community.

State and local public health departments

Data from state and local health departments are reported to CDC and supported with funding through the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for the Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) Cooperative Agreement. These data are listed with the "State_Territory" source in datasets.

CDC's national wastewater testing contract

Data from sites that are supported through CDC's national wastewater testing contract (currently with Verily Life Sciences, LLC). These data are listed with the “Verily_Life_Sciences” source in datasets. Data from a previous contract are reported using the “Biobot_Analytics” source.

WastewaterSCAN

These data were generated by WastewaterSCAN, a partnership between Stanford University, Emory University, and Verily. These data are listed with the "WastewaterSCAN" source in datasets.

  • All results are understood to be based on inputs that are experimental in nature and are not intended to diagnose or treat any disease. The results are provided "as is" and without warranty of any kind. Stanford does not accept liability for any claim arising out of or in connection with the disclosure of these results. WastewaterSCAN indicates that by accessing or copying any part of the database, the user accepts the terms of Stanford's license (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  • These data are being made available to inform public health decision making.
  • Anyone seeking to use the database for other purposes or for research is required to contact the WastewaterSCAN / SCAN team (email: wwscan_stanford_emory@lists.stanford.edu) and any use of the data should be cited appropriately (https://data.wastewaterscan.org/about/#18).

Explore wastewater data

Thumbnail image of USA data map showing viral activity data for tracked respiratory viruses.
Wastewater Data for Common Respiratory Viruses
Explore wastewater viral activity data for tracked respiratory viruses across the U.S.
Thumbnail image of a US map showing recent detections of viruses across the country.
Wastewater Data for Emerging Viruses
Explore wastewater detection data for measles, A(H5), and monkeypox at sites across the U.S.
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CDC Wastewater Monitoring for Public Health
Overview of wastewater monitoring and its role in early disease detection and response.
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Content Source:
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)