Health Related Water Microbiology
Specialist Group Newsletter
Volume 24 – May 2022

Contents
 Message from our Chair (pg 1)
 IWA Membership (pg 2)
 Updates on the estimation of human health risks byexposure to antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) inaquatic environments (pg 3)
 Thailand health authority led COVID-19 wastewater
surveillance campaign and national guideline
development (pg 4)
 Wastewater - SARS Public Health Environmental
Response (W-SPHERE) -a Global Data Center for
SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater andenvironmental samples (pg 4)
 Wastewater surveillance predicts the number of
COVID-19 positives: Public verification experimentsince November 2021 (pg 7)
 Getting to know the YWP Chapter from Italy (pg 8)
 Large-scale wastewater epidemiology project in Latin
America gets underway (pg 8)
 Joint IWA Webinar with Water Reuse SG will be heldon July 27th, 2022 (pg 12)
 Journal of Water and Health – Virtual Special issue:
SARS-CoV-2 in Water has been issued (pg 12)
 1st HRWM Mini-symposium- Traditional andMolecular Indicators to Support Wastewater Based
Epidemiology (pg 13)
 News from IWA Headquarters (pg 16)
 News from IWA Publishing (pg 18)

Message
Chair

from

our

Dear colleagues and friends of the HRWM family!
A large number of dedicated colleagues havecontributed to make this newsletter a special one
again with many interesting articles. For this, I
thank them all very much. Special recognition isdue to Maronel Steyn for the excellent editing and
to Daisuke Sano who, as HRWM secretary, fulfils
his many tasks with great dedication.
Our long-cherished plan to create a Webinar Mini
Symposium series has been realized. The format
includes a call for contributions giving all membersof the HRWM SG and interested colleagues the
chance to actively shape the content of thewebinar. Our first Mini Symposium held on 3rd
December 2021 was a huge success and had 544
registered participants from 55 countries. It wasentitled “Traditional and molecular indicators tocharacterise sewage in wastewater-based
epidemiology” and was conducted in conjunction
with the Global Water Pathogen Project (GWPP).
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A big thank you goes to the organizers andmoderators Andreas Farnleitner, Joan Rose,
Anicet Blanch and Kwanrawee Joy Sirikanchana for
their great effort as well as to all speakers for their
excellent contributions. You can find a recordingof the Mini symposium and the accepted abstracts
on our HRWM website. Have a look at thecomprehensive report about this Mini Symposium
written by Joy Sirikanchana in the Newsletter.
Encouraged by the great success, the 2nd Mini
Symposium Webinar is being planned. The call forcontributions has already started. This time theMini Symposium is organized in conjunction with
the IWA Specialized Group Water Reuse (WR Chair
Josef Lahnsteiner, WR Secretary Samendra
Serchan). The title is “Recent Progress toward
Microbiological Safety in Potable Reuse”. We arelooking forward to your submissions; deadline isMay 31, 2022 (see information on the next pages).
The very latest news in terms of HRWM events isthat our SG has successfully submitted a workshop
proposal to the IWA World Water Congress. The
title is “SG Health Related Water Microbiology and
WHO Workshop: Recreational Water: Quality
Translating Science to Policy”. The detailed
programme will be on the website soon (IWA
World Water Congress & Exhibition, Water for
smart livable cities, 11-15 September 2022 in
Copenhagen, Denmark):
Link: https://worldwatercongress.org/

In our series “introduction of international IWA
Young Water Professionals” we have the pleasure
to present in this Newsletter the Italian Chapter.
Their main motivation is to bridge the gap
between senior and young water professionals(YWPs), as well as between academia andindustry. The YWPs will also be active in the frameof the 3rd IWA Conference on Disinfection and
DBPs (IWA DDBPs 2022), which will take placefrom June 27 to July 1, 2022, in Milano, Italy.
It is so amazing to see that our members are very
active in many areas and form a strong
community. Thank you all for your commitment tokeeping the science of Health Related Water
Microbiology high! I look forward to more joint
activities.
Enjoy reading the Newsletter.
Warm regards
Regina Sommer
HRWM Chair

It is especially encouraging that our 21st
symposium will now be realized! The organisingcommittee is already busy with the preparations.
The date has been set as 4 to 8 June 2023, Darwin.
Australia. We are already very much looking
forward to this long awaited conference coming
together.
I would like to highlight a special publication,
namely the Virtual Special issue of the Journal of
Water and Health “SARS-CoV-2 in Water” (Editors:
Eiji Haramoto, Gertjan Medema, John Scott
Meschke, Susan Petterson).

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Updates on theestimation of humanhealth risks byexposure to antibiotic
resistant bacteria(ARB) in aquatic
environments

exposing to ARB. Unavailability of strain specificdose-response relationships was highlighted as amajor limitation. Available dose-response
relationships are developed based uponadministering high concentrations to guarantee
the infection. Therefore, development of doseresponse relationships with realistic doses wasemphasized. As the HGT is the main mechanism
for
antibiotic
resistancedissemination,
development of a methodology to incorporate theeffects of multiple HGT events during water
use/reuse cycles was highlighted.

-Article contribution by Mohan Amarasiri1, Takashi

Exposure assessment is a major step in the QMRA
process. AWARE (Antibiotic Resistance inWastewater: Transmission Risks for Employees
and Residents around Wastewater Treatment
Plants) study is evaluating the prevalence of ESBLproducing Escherichia coli and carbapenemaseproducing
Enterobacteriaceae
andthecorresponding genes in the air, water, and sewage
samples collected from wastewater treatment
plants located in Germany, the Netherlands, andRomania. Prevalence will be evaluated for
wastewater treatment plant workers andresidents living within 300m from the treatment
plant (resident group), and people living morethan 1km away from the WWTP (comparisongroup). Targeted number of participants will be
450 WWTP workers (150 from each country), 800
residents living within 300m from the WWTP, and1200 residents living further away from the
WWTP. Evaluating the potential transmission of
ESBL-E. coli and CPE from wastewater to WWTP
workers and the residents will provide valuable
information in estimating the human health risks
of ARBs (Wengenroth et al., 2021).

Furukawa1, Daisuke Sano2, Kazunari Sei1
1School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University, Japan.
2Department

of Civil and Environmental Engineering,Tohoku University, Japan.

Antibiotic resistance has been identified as amajor human health threat by the WHO andcontribution of aquatic environments as reservoirs
and transmission routes for antibiotic resistancedissemination has been highlighted. Therefore, aquantitative assessment on potential health risksof exposing to ARB in aquatic environments isessential in developing mitigation measures. To
address that, Schoen et al. conducted aquantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) of
exposing to methicillin-resistant and susceptible
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MSSA) via
potable and non-potable reuse of reclaimed water(Schoen et al., 2021). The disease burden was
calculated for skin infections and blood stream
infections. When the wastewater and greywaterlog reductions are greater than 4.5 and 3.5 log
during the wastewater treatment process, 95th
percentile annual cumulative disability adjusted
life years from MRSA and MSSA infections were
below 10-6 DALY ppy benchmark. Since theenrichment rate of MRSA by horizontal genetransfer (HGT) during the wastewater treatment
was small compared to the log reduction, QMRA
was not significantly influenced by HGT.
Authors highlight several limitations of the study
and provide valuable suggestions for improving
the estimation of annual disease burden by

Schoen, M. E., Jahne, M. A., Garland, J., Ramirez,
L., Lopatkin, A. J., and Hamilton, K. A. (2021).
Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of
Antimicrobial
ResistantandSusceptible
Staphylococcus aureus in Reclaimed Wastewaters.
Environ.
Sci.
Technol.
doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c04038.
Wengenroth, L., Berglund, F., Blaak, H., Chifiriuc,
M. C., Flach, C. F., Pircalabioru, G. G., et al. (2021).
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Antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment
plants and transmission risks for employees andresidents: The concept of the aware study.
Antibiotics 10. doi:10.3390/antibiotics10050478.

Thailand healthauthority led COVID19 wastewater
surveillancecampaign andnational guideline
development- Article contributed by Kwanrawee Joy Sirikanchana,Jatuwat Sangsanont, and Surapong Rattanakul

From April to May 2021, wastewater surveillance
was initiated by Thailand’s Environmental HealthBureau, Department of Public Health, Ministry of
Health, to monitor SARS-CoV-2 RNA (COVID-19) inwastewater from local fresh markets andresidential buildings for migrant workers inprovinces surrounding Bangkok, where outbreakclusters had been previously identified. The
wastewater monitoring efforts were conducted
before and after the Thai Traditional New Year in
mid-April in support of clinical testing to informthe outbreak. COVID-19, by detecting N1 and N2
genes using quantitative PCR techniques, wasfound in wastewater from residential buildings
and fresh markets, confirming the proof ofconcept for monitoring COVID-19 outbreaks inwastewater. Interestingly, COVID-19 was also
detected in wastewater samples from some freshmarkets that did not contain toilet wastewater,
implying that the virus may have been
contaminated into wastewater by other activities,
such as meat and produce rinsing, surface
contacting, hand washing, etc. These findings
emphasize appropriate practices to prevent the
spread of COVID-19 in public places.

were successfully developed in September 2021
with support from the Environmental HealthBureau in collaboration with Chulalongkorn
University, King Mongkut’s University ofTechnology Thonburi, and Chulabhorn ResearchInstitute. The purpose of this manual is to provide
up-to-date scientific information, methodology,
and application guidelines for wastewater-based
epidemiology (WBE) of COVID-19 outbreaks thatcan be adopted by interested parties, and tosupport the future development of nationwide
wastewater surveillance systems for emerging
disease monitoring.
Also, COVID-19 WBE was successfully
implemented in wastewater from all 19 large tosmall municipal wastewater treatment plants in
Bangkok from January to April 2021. The results
showed that SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been found inwastewater prior to clinical cases that led to thethird COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand.
More information can be found from Sangsanontetal.
(2021)
Sci.
Tot.
Environ.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151169.

Wastewater - SARS
Public Health
Environmental
Response (W-SPHERE)-a Global Data
Center for SARS-CoV-2
detection in
wastewater andenvironmental
samples- Article contributed by Andri Taruna Rachmadi

Since the declaration of the global coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) pandemic which began in
Moreover, Thailand’s first National
2019, there have been over 250 million cases andGuidelines for COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance
5.0 million deaths recorded. Environmental_________Pg4
IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

virologists quickly adapted their existing methods to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater to track
community spread of the virus to enhance a program of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Wastewater
surveillance has the potential to provide a real-time view of trends in community infection. Public healthstruggles to monitor individuals and obtain good data to support testing, interventions (such as closures,masks, social distancing) and economic reopening policy decisions. Also, the wastewater surveillance can
now support vaccination implementation and tracking the variants of concern.
Unlike COVID-19 case and mortality data, there was not a global dashboard to track wastewater monitoringof SARS-CoV-2 RNA worldwide. Currently, over 3000+ sites including cities, counties (regional) and national
systems across the world are monitoring wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 or have communicated that they will
be setting up for monitoring soon. Using COVIDPoops19 as a starting point the W-SPHERE datasets, alongwith their metadata and dictionaries, will be open for access and sharing across the globe in a number of
reusable formats. The mission of W-SPHERE is to advance environmental surveillance of sewage to inform
local and global efforts for monitoring and supporting public health measures to combat COVID-19. We use
ArcGIS for online dashboards for data visualization, case studies, and employ geospatial and statistical tools
for data standardization, comparison, and analysis.
On the W-SPHERE dashboard, the user has the option to select public health use cases based on specificcharacteristics such as the system setting (e.g., sewer, non-sewer system) or use case type (e.g., city level,
national level, buildings, river systems, etc.). The story map will provide a closer look at the different steps(e.g., design, monitoring, and execution) for developing a program that uses the wastewater data for publichealth decision making.

Figure 1: W-SPHERE global map

Currently, W-SPHERE has 14 datasets uploaded and available from 9 different countries consisting of 707
sites and more than 20,000 samples (Figure 1). More datasets are being added weekly. Sites included
sewage from wastewater treatment facilities, sewer sites from sewer sheds directed towards parts of acommunity or specific buildings (e.g. social service, correctional facilities) and environmental samples(impacted rivers). Of the 14 datasets, ten report on the detection SARS-CoV-2 using N1 genes, five reporton N2 genes, two datasets used the E gene (US-Honolulu and ES-Catalonia), and others report using
multiple genes target. In the standardized datasets, information such as presence/absence results andpopulation served by the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) are included. In addition, SARS-CoV-2_________Pg5
IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

concentration trends (increase, slight increase, decrease, or no change) from a selectable time period areavailable (see Figure 2). The trend is calculated by using linear regression with the five most recent
measurements/samples. As an open access dashboard, all the data are available to download in csv format.

Figure 2: W-SPHERE data trends layout

Compelling use case studies of wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 and uses in public health have been
included. The Catalan surveillance network of SARS-CoV-2 is monitoring SARS-CoV-2 weekly from 56 WWTPs
and used the information for:
i.
ii.
iii.

Estimated circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in communities where clinical testing is far from optimalor less available.
Assessment of the efficacy of containment measures implemented by Health authorities indifferent areas of the Catalan territory.
Identification of potential outbreaks in monitored municipalities (forecasting of clinicalcases, i.e., early-warning).

Another example can be seen with the Dutch dataset which demonstrated that the trends of the virus served
an indicator of undertesting in city areas, early warning and localization of resurgence. Please visit our global
data center website (https://sphere.waterpathogens.org/) and please do not hesitate to contact us if you
have further questions or want to contribute your data.

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Wastewater surveillance predicts the number of
COVID-19
positives:
Publicverification
experiment since November 2021
- Article contributed by Daisuke Sano
Wastewater surveillance on SARS-CoV-2 is being conducted all over the world, and it is time to verify how
the wastewater surveillance can help identify the epidemic of COVID-19. A research group led by Tohoku
University, Japan, has built a predictive model that estimates the number of new positive infections that will
occur in the next week, based on the results of wastewater surveillance on SARS-CoV-2. This prediction model
uses machine learning (neural network) based on the number of positive infection reports and the results of
the wastewater surveillance in Sendai city for the past year or more (Fig).
The research team has decided to publish the predicted values every week and publicly verify theeffectiveness of the forecast model. Currently, Tohoku University operates the "Information Dissemination
Site for Norovirus Concentration in Sewage" (https://novinsewage.com/) in collaboration with Yamagata
University, Sendai City, and Nihon Suido Consultants. As for norovirus infection, it is already known that theconcentration of norovirus in sewage and the number of patients are significantly correlated. This site sends
a warning email to registrants when the norovirus concentration in sewage exceeds a threshold value. In thispublic verification experiment, we will utilize this site to deliver weekly forecasts of the number of positives
for COVID-19 to e-mail address registrants once a week. In the email, the predicted value one week ago andthe actual number of positive infections will be also included as a guide to determine the accuracy of thepredicted value.

COVID-19 weekly cases

The research team hopes it will be useful as a reference for infection control in daily life. In addition, medical
institutions may be able to use it for planning the number of beds required for the next week and the staffingof rescue workers.

Training set

Figure 1: Neural network prediction of COVI-19 weekly cases based on wastewater surveillance results in Sendai,Japan_________Pg7
IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

Getting to know the
YWP
Chapterfrom
Italy (YWPIT)

dedicated mentoring activities will beplanned for successive years.
YWPIT is already in contact with other YWP
chapters in Europe to exchange ideas and bring
YWP chapters a step further.

- Article credit: YWP Italian Chapter [ywpitaly@gmail.com]

If you want to know more about YWPIT and ouractivities,
youcancontact
usatywpitaly@gmail.com or find us on LinkedIn(https://www.linkedin.com/company/youngwater-professionals-italy/).

The Italian Young Water Professionals chapter(YWPIT) was officially approved in February 2022
by the Italian Governing Member (GM),UTILITALIA, and the International Water
Association (IWA) headquarters. The group iscoordinated by 11 steering committee members,
supported by working groups, and currently
includes about 80 members, coming from bothacademia and industry.
The main motivation to form the IWA’s YWP
Chapter in Italy was to bridge the gap between
senior and young water professionals (YWPs), as
well as between academia and industry, leading to
the empowerment of YWPs active in Italy. Also,
formal and informal connections between YWPs
will be fostered thanks to the YWPIT group.
Key activities that will be organised in the first yearof operations include:
●

●

●

●
●
●

●

The organisation of a formal in-person
meeting as Chapter launch event (planned
during IWA’s conference in Milan Disinfection and disinfection by-products,
June 2022);
The organisation of an informal event with
Italian YWPs to present the steeringcommittee and the workplan;
The participation in an in-person event
together with the GM (Water Festival,
Turin, September 2022);
The organisation of virtual workshop(s);The preparation and distribution of an
official flyer to increase group’s visibility;
The organisation of virtual meetings withother YWP chapters to plan collaborative
activities;
The creation of databases to collectmembers’ expertise and need for
professional
development.
Also,

Large-scale
wastewater
epidemiology projectin Latin America
gets underway- Article credit Veronica Rajal

Research
led
byNewcastle University(United Kingdom) incollaboration
with
Karolinska
Institute(Sweden), the Campus
Terra of the UniversityofSantiagodeCompostela (Spain),and MGI-tech has
started sequencing wastewater samples collected
in 2020 from Latin America to determine the SARSCoV-2 variants circulating in the area - a project cocreatinga
Pan-American
NetworkforEnvironmental Epidemiology (PANACEA).
PANACEA includes partners from the UK, Sweden,
Spain, and 14 Latin American countries (Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru,
Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela),
which are analysing wastewater samples in acoordinated campaign to assess the real-time
prevalence and genomic variants of the virus incities across Latin America. The team is quantifying
SARS-CoV-2 and gearing up to start targeting other_________Pg8

IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

pathogens as well as antimicrobial resistance(AMR).
PANACEA, with support from Northumbrian
Water Group and Suez Group, aims to expand thecurrent analytical capacities of the Latin Americancountries to implement Wastewater-Based
Epidemiology (WBE) surveillance programs,
building a resilient and sustainable monitoring
network capable of obtaining real-time data to
support public health decision-making. The
scientists will develop and implement new
molecular tools in environmental epidemiology
and train new professionals capable of producing,analysing, and comprehensively interpreting data.
Dr. Marcos Quintela-Baluja, from the School ofEngineering at Newcastle University, leads the
project in close association with Dr Kelly Jobling.
Dr. Quintela-Baluja said: “We are talking about aregion under ongoing epidemics, including Zika,
Dengue, Yellow fever, cholera and malaria.
Traditional disease detection and management
systems are based on diagnostic analyses ofclinical samples. However, these systems fail todetect early warnings of public health threats at a
broad population level and fail to predictoutbreaks promptly. The COVID-19 pandemic has
surfaced ideas for a rethink and strengthening of
the entire global health surveillance architecture.
As a result, WBE will become a gold standard inproviding information on community-wide
exposure and health status comprehensively andin near real-time.”
Professor David Graham, an international expert
on AMR and research partner at Newcastle
University, says “PANACEA could be a gamechanger for integrated health protection in Latin
America. Currently no such system exists, but ourwork with the United Nations on AMR surveillance
has shown global health will be most improved
through increased regional capacity for exposureand risk assessment, which is an aim of PANACEA.
It is a pleasure to be involved in this landmark
project”.
Dr. Lars Engstrand, professor in infectious disease
control and Director of the National Pandemic

Center and the Center for Translational
Microbiome Research at Karolinska Institute says
he and his team are very excited about theopportunity to provide the high-throughput
infrastructure at Karolinska Institute for thisproject. “We have during the pandemic trained
our lab team for large-scale studies using MGI techautomated systems in a very cost-effective way
with rapid turn-around times. Now we will use ourexperiences in virus and AMR surveillance in
combination with microbiome analyses in thisimportant project. We will do our best to provide
high-quality data to the PANACEA network”.
Professor Pablo Hernan Sotelo, head of the
Department of Biotechnology in the Faculty ofChemical Sciences at the National University of
Asuncion, and leader of the SARS-CoV-2
environmental surveillance project of theParaguayan Research Agency (CONACYT) said
“This project will allow us to get access tocapacities that are not currently available in ourcountry. At the beginning of the pandemic, wefound local WBE initiatives in the region that
helped us to rapidly develop methodologies toquantify SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. PANACEA
was born to provide international context to theeffort of local scientists, which are the main actors
to implement sustainable surveillance capacities
in one of the most vulnerable regions of theworld”.
Dr. Verónica Beatriz Rajal, Professor in theEngineering College at National University of Salta(UNSa) and researcher of the Argentinian
Research Council (CONICET), leads the Water andSoil Laboratory from the Research Institute for
Chemical Industry (INIQUI, UNSa – CONICET). She
said "Our laboratory has long been working on
detecting different pathogens in water andquantitative microbial risk assessment. This
experience allowed us to respond quickly to thesurveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater acrossdifferent points of Salta city, providing information
about the dynamic of the viral circulation in the
different areas to focus attention on the hot spots.
The interaction with other Argentinian
researchers within a national network led by the_________Pg9

IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

National Science and Technology Ministry was
fruitful. We trust that joining efforts withcolleagues from other countries through
PANACEA will help the Latin America region facedifferent challenges and increase capacities
faster".
In Brazil, the network is supported by two focal
points: the Federal University of Santa Catarina located in Santa Catarina and the Environmental
Company of São Paulo State - CETESB. Dr. Gislaine
Fongaro, professor at the Federal University of
Santa Catarina (Laboratory of Applied Virology of
the Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology
Department), says that she and her team from theLaboratory of Applied Virology are ready tocollaborate with PANACEA network. "Our group is
engaging and studying several viruses (including
SARS-CoV-2) and applying retrospective andprospective monitoring in urban and remote areas
in Brazil, especially in Santa Catarina. PANACEA
network will improve our understanding of thecirculation of the pathogens on a continent-scale
for public health purposes". Dr. María Ines Zanoli
Sato, from CETESB's Department of Environmental
Analysis, reinforces "This international effort iscrucial to strengthen the technical-scientificcapacity in the Latin America region to face thepandemic challenges, contributing to the buildingof other environmental surveillance actions
considering WBE. FIOCRUZ (Rio de Janeiro),
FEEVALE (Rio Grande Do Sul) and Federal
University of Minas Gerais are also part of
PANACEA.
Dr. Julián Carrillo Reyes, researcher at theEngineering Institute from National University
Autonomous of Mexico, highlights the potential of
the PANACEA Network to bring local efforts to aninternational context and demonstrate theusefulness of these tools in making decisions
related to public health.
Dr. Matías Victoria Montero and other researchersat the University of the Republic and the Instituteof Biological Investigations Clemente Estable(IBICE) are members of PANACEA in Uruguay. Dr.
Claudia Etchebehere, researcher at IBICE said
"Uruguay is a small country in Latin America with

only 3.5 million inhabitants, but it is highly
influenced by its neighbours Argentina and Brazil.
Therefore, Uruguay needs to know how the
epidemic develops in the region to predict the
problems we will have shortly. Several
laboratories from different institutions in Uruguay
monitor SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, especially inborder cities. The possibility that PANACEA gives
us to compare our results with results from theregion, standardise protocols, and sequence DNA
is essential to advance the understanding of ourreality".
In Chile, Dr. Paulina Assmann (Seremi of Science inthe center-south region), promoted a network oflaboratories working on the detection of SARSCoV-2 in wastewater at the beginning of thepandemic. It included the participation ofresearchers from University of Atacama in
Atacama (Dr. César Echeverría), Pontifical Catholic
University of Valparaiso (Dr. Jorge Olivares) andValparaiso University (Dra. Claudia Ibacache) in
Valparaiso, Catholic University of the Most Holy
Conception (Dr. Matías Hepp and Dra. Andressa
Reis) in Concepción, and Andrés Bello National
University (Dra. Aiko Adell) and University of Chile(Dr. Aldo Gaggero) in Santiago. Dr. Gaggero, fromthe Laboratory of Environmental Virology, Facultyof Medicine, said “The initial objective of thisnational network was to establish anenvironmental
epidemiologicalsurveillance
program for SARS-CoV-2, through the analysis ofwastewater, to generate information that cancontribute to the management of the pandemic
and to the knowledge of the epidemiologicalstatus in our country. In this sense, we are very
interested in participating in PANACEA andcontributing, in collaborative work withresearchers from different Latin American andEuropean countries, to generate useful and novel
information on the circulation of SARS-CoV-2
variants in the region, which is currently notavailable”.Dr. Pablo César Rivera Navarro, Directorof the Research Unit at the Costa Rican National
Water Laboratory (LNA-AyA) and focal point for
Costa Rica noted "_________Pg10
IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

The PANACEA network has allowed us as a country to establish valuable collaborations within Latin America
and the rest of the world. We have developed environmental monitoring strategies based on our sharedexperiences in response to disease outbreaks, e.g., cholera and SARS-CoV-2. Undoubtedly, the developmentof environmental monitoring systems for epidemiological surveillance will provide valuable tools for publichealth management at local and national levels".

Figure 1: Map of Latin American countries shows the number of cumulative cases of COVID-19 per million population(Source: https://ourworldindata.org). The black dots are the number of cities with a population higher than 150,000
inhabitants, and the red dots are the cities with founder PANACEA members.

Dr. Alejandra Carolina Zamora Figueroa from the Zoology and Tropical Institute at the Central University ofVenezuela, together with the Venezuelan Scientific Research Institute, said "Our country is starting studies
in environmental epidemiology as a new line of research, and in this way, we are joining the environmental
monitoring of the virus that causes COVID-19. Our team is very pleased, the creation of PANACEA is an
important initiative for local research institutions, because it constitutes a support network for the exchange
of knowledge in favour of research and its applicability in environmental surveillance. This project will allow
us to train in new molecular tools not yet developed in the country, and thus contribute to the detection ofpathogens that influence public health throughout the Latin American region".
Other partners of the team leading efforts in their countries are Yaset Rodriguez at Technological Institute ofSanto Domingo INTEC (Dominic Republic); María Teresa Alvarez Aliaga at University "Mayor de San Andres”
and Antonio Macchiavelli (Bolivia); William Calero Cáceres at Technical University of Ambato (Ecuador); Alex
Martínez Torres and Máximo Montalvo at Panama University (Panama), and Mónica Santa María Fuster atUniversity of Engineering and Technology (Peru).

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IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

Joint IWA Webinar
with Water Reuse SG
will be held on July
27th, 2022
- Article credit Daisuke Sano

The joint IWA webinar of HRWM SG with Water
Reuse SG will be held on July 27th, 2022. This joint
webinar will give an overview on microbiologicalsafety in indirect/direct potable reuse (IPR/DPR).
Quantitative microbial risk assessment has beenutilized for evaluating necessary log removal ofpathogens, which needs to be met by combining
treatment processes. How to give a credited log
removal value to each treatment process is thus
an important issue for water sector industries. In
this webinar, recent progress in microbiologicalsafety issues for potable water reuse will bepresented. This webinar is held as one of the
HRWM Mini-Symposium Webinar Series.
You need to use a submission form for entry. Make
sure that you clearly indicate the highlights of yourresearch in the form. The submission will be
reviewed by webinar moderators, and all accepted
abstracts will be presented on the HRWM SG
website with approval from authors.
Due to the limited time of the webinar, only a few
contributions can be integrated into theprogramme. We ask for your understanding if yourcontribution is not included.
The followings are key points of the webinarorganization:--

Webinar is composed of one keynote speech,
4 selected presentations (5 min + 5 mindiscussion each), and final discussion.
For your application a specific form has been
prepared with the following structure:1) clear connection to and impact on the subjectof the Webinar,
2) main message,3) emphasize the main results,4) highlights (max. 100 words per text box).
Abstracts are collected by SG HRWM secretary
Daisuke Sano and forwarded to the webinarorganizing team, who is selecting thecontributions and prepare the webinar program.
Please title the submission e-mail as “Abstract
Submission to WR&HRWM Joint Webinar”
Joint webinar organizing team:• Dr. Josef Lahnsteiner, Water Reuse SG Chair,
VA TECH WABAG GmbH, Austria• Dr. Regina Sommer, Medical University of
Vienna, Austria• Dr. Samendra Sherchan, Tulane University, USA• Dr. Ricardo Santos, Instituto Superior Tecnico,
Universidade de Lisboa, Portgul• Dr. Hiroyuki Katayama, The University ofTokyo, Japan• Dr. Daisuke Sano, Tohoku University, Japan

Journal of Water and
Health – Virtual
Special issue: SARSCoV-2 in Water has
been issued- Article credit Daisuke Sano

The virtual special issue: SARS-CoV-2 in Water has
been issued in Journal of Water and Health.
Cutting-edge studies and reviews with regards tothe potential risk of waterborne COVID-19
transmission, household water uses, hygiene
during the pandemic, surrogate persistence within
free-living amoebae, variant detection, caseprediction modelling, and surveillance of SARSCoV-2 RNA in wastewater are included. Please finddetails of special issue papers from the following
link:
https://iwaponline.com/pages/sars-cov2_in_water_________Pg12

IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

The HRWM SG is organising a series of free mini-symposium webinars as online events for HRWM
members, other IWA members, and the general audience. These events are aimed at bridging thebiennial WaterMicro conference programs (latest in 2019) in Vienna, Austria, and the next conference
planned for 2023 in Darwin, Australia.
The first mini symposium held on 3rd December 2021 had 544 registered participants from 55
countries.
This webinar was organized and moderated by Professor Andreas
Farnleitner from ICC Water & Health, TU Wien, and KL Krems, Austria;
Professor Joan Rose from Michigan State University, USA; Professor Anicet
Blanch from the University of Barcelona, Spain; and Dr. Kwanrawee Joy
Sirikanchana from Chulabhorn Research Institute, Thailand. This webinar
was conducted in conjunction with the Global Water Pathogen Project(GWPP).
The event commenced with a keynote presentation by Dr. Orin Shanks,
Senior Research Geneticist, the United States Environmental Protection
Agency. His presentation, entitled ‘Human wastewater surveillance: A new
opportunity for microbial source tracking’, introduced the audience to theadvantages and current practices of microbial source tracking (MST)
markers in supporting wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).
Five short presentations that were selected from among the submitted
abstracts were divided into those related to viral- and bacterial-targeted_________Pg13
IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

WBE. The first three presentations focused on the indicators and MST markers supporting viraltargeted WBE. The first talk, entitled ‘Normalisation of SARS-CoV-2 for sewage surveillance’, waspresented by Professor Gertjan Medema, Principal Microbiologist, KWR Water Research Institute, theNetherlands. His study highlighted the need for SARS-CoV-2 normalisation using a flow rate as apreferred parameter; however, crAssphage loading is also appropriate if the wastewater came from
more than 5,000 populations. The second talk, by Dr. Mats Leifels, Research Associate, SCELSE,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, was titled ‘Application of MST markers to normalize
shedding rates in a campus monitoring program in Singapore’. Dr. Leifels’s work underscores the needfor evaluating several relevant markers for their suitability in normalising shedding rates in specific,
localised settings. Assistant Professor Marlene Wolfe from the Gangarosa Department ofEnvironmental Health, Emory University, USA, presented the third talk. Her research, entitled‘Estimating relative abundance of two SARS-CoV-2 variants in wastewater settled solids’, highlighted
the need for PMMoV normalisation for the comparison of COVID-19 incidence rates with SARS-CoV-2
in wastewater solids across locations, and the capability to detect variants in wastewater solids.
The next two presentations represented the indicators and MST markers that support bacterialtargeted WBE. Sarah M. Essert, PhD candidate at the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University
Hospital Bonn, Germany, presented her work ‘Antibiotics and resistant genes as indicators for
multidrug resistant bacteria?’, which demonstrated positive associations between antibiotics andresistant bacteria and the differences in patterns between clinical and municipal wastewater. Lastly,
Dr. Rene Mayer, postdoctoral researcher at TU Wien and KL Krems, Austria, presented his research
titled ‘High persistence of traditional and molecular faecal indicators support proportional autosampling of sewage’. His research concluded that both cultivation-based and genetic bacterial markers
are stable over a 24-h period at 5 °C for both raw and treated wastewater, supporting the use of cooled
automated sampling devices.
- Article credit Kwanrawee Joy Sirikanchana_________Pg14
IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2The event concluded with the panellists discussing challenges and perspectives. They agree that there
should be normalising parameter(s); standardized protocols or workflows; and referenced materials
that can assist in data comparison within the laboratory, among sampling locations, or around theglobe. However, care should be taken to balance efforts between searching for ideal solutions andfurther characterising the acceptable solutions at hand. Challenges also remain with regard to resource
availability and capabilities around the world.
The recorded VDO and related resources can be found at:https://iwa-network.org/learn/traditional-and-molecular-indicators-to-characterise-sewage-inwastewater-basedepidemiology/?fbclid=IwAR34vFUa5SiWujytyQUWNOhDXamLfeY0HgypuoWjoEOYp6mreYmtV1AiW8o
The accepted abstracts to the mini symposium can also be found at:https://hrwm-watermicro.com/
The upcoming mini-symposium series include the following topics: 1) Water reuse and risk assessment;
2) Disaster management, preparedness, and WASH; and 3) Recreational water quality.
Please stay tuned for calls for contribution and participation.

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IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2News from IWA Headquarters
The best 8 scientific posters from IWA’s Digital Congress
The poster prize winners have been announced in a plenary session during the second week of theDigital World Water Congress, which took place between 24 May – 4 June 2021. The sessions,presentations and posters were organised in six overarching themes covering the full water cycle.
IWA Membership Awards winners announced at Digital Congress
The winners of the IWA Membership Awards have been announced by IWA President Tom
Mollenkopf, during a plenary session on Tuesday 1 June to mark the beginning of the second week of
the Digital World Water Congress.
Four inspiring water leaders win prestigious IWA Awards
Inspirational academic Marcos von Sperling has won the acclaimed IWA Global Water Award, duringa presentation at IWA’s Digital World Water Congress. The award recognises an innovative leader
who has made a significant contribution to a world in which water is wisely managed.
IWA Annual Report 2019-2020
IWA 2019-2020: Vibrant and Evolving. This past year is one which IWA can look back on and see
excellent and important progress for our Association. There have certainly been positive
developments in our sector – whose essential role has been further underlined by the Covid-19
pandemic.
Australian water industry expert becomes IWA President
Leading water consultant Tom Mollenkopf has today become the new President of the International
Water Association, taking office following his election in Lisbon, Portugal back in October 2019. Mr.
Mollenkopf, who trained as a lawyer and holds an MBA, has been a substantive and well-regarded
figure in the water sector for the past 20 years.
Water experts become IWA Vice Presidents
Renowned academic Enrique Cabrera has been elected as the new Senior Vice President of theInternational Water Association. Professor Cabrera has over 20 years of experience in the field ofurban water management. Hamanth Kasan has also been elected as IWA Vice President. Mr. Kasan isgeneral manager of Rand Water in South Africa.
New IWA YWP Chapter in Sweden
A new IWA Young Water Professionals (IWA YWP) Chapter in Sweden was formed on 8 April 2021.
This new IWA YWP chapter is open to all water related professionals in Sweden, aged 35 and below,
who are IWA members either individually or through their employer.
Guidance on Preparing Water Service Delivery Plans: A manual for small to medium-sized water
utilities in Africa and similar settings
This publication is a guideline or how-to manual on preparing water service delivery plans with afocus on small to medium sized organised water utilities having with approximately 5,000 to over
100,000 connections mainly in areas with limited capacity and resources.

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IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

IWA Learn

The place for learning & professional development in the water sector
Professionals in the water sector require continuous development to be able to stay abreast with thechanging environment circumstances. No matter in which stage of your career, IWA provides you withguidance and opportunities to build up the competences required to succeed. This includes a set oftools on how to develop your career, as well as opportunity of professional updating, learning, training
and networking. To learn more, visit the IWA Learn platform: https://iwa-network.org/iwa-learn/.

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IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2News from IWA Publishing
Microplastics in Water and Wastewater - 2nd Edition
Hrissi Karapanagioti Ioannis K Kalavrouziotis
ISBN: 978178906168
October 2020 • 300 pages • Paperback
IWA Members price: £60.00 / US$ 90.00 / € 75.00
https://www.iwapublishing.com/books/9781789061680/microplasticswater-and-wastewate r-2nd-edition
The book covers in detail the topic of microplastics in water and wastewater.
There is a growing interest in the scientific community in microplastics. Mostof the studies identified the problems due to microplastics in the marine
environment. However, considering that most microplastics are produced onland, similar problems should be encountered in freshwater systems andwastewater treatment plants that at the same time are the sources of marine
microplastics.
Environmental Technologies to Treat Sulfur Pollution: Principles and Engineering
Piet Lens
ISBN: 9781789060959
August 2020 • 544 pages • Paperback
IWA Members price: £94.00/ US$ 141.00/ € 118.00
Also available as an Open Access ePDF
https://www.iwapublishing.com/books/9781789060959/environmentaltechnologies-treat-sulfur-pollution-principles-and-engineering-2nd
This book may serve both as an advanced textbook for undergraduate andgraduate students majoring in environmental sciences, technology orengineering as well as a handbook for tertiary educators, researchers,
professionals and policymakers who conduct research and practices in thesulfur related fields. It is essential reading for consulting companies when
dealing with sulfur related environmental (bio)technologies.
Physical and Chemical Separation in Water and Wastewater Treatment
Norihito Tambo; Koichi Ogasawara
ISBN: 9781789061291
November 2020 • 750 pages • Paperback
IWA Members price: £124.00/ $186.00/ €155.00
https://www.iwapublishing.com/books/9781789061291/physical-andchemical-separation-water-and-wastewater-treatment
Based upon half a century of research by the authors, Physical and Chemical
Separation in Water and Wastewater Treatment addresses the whole water
cycle spectrum, from global hydrological cycle, urban-regional metabolic
cycle to individual living and production cycle, with respect to quality control
technology based on fundamental science and theories. For every treatment
process, basic scientific and environmental physical and chemical natures are
explained with respect to those of water and its impurities. Health danger and risks for human beings
are also covered.
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IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

Selected journal papers
A systematic review of microorganisms as indicators of recreational water quality in natural anddrinking water systems
José Luis Lugo; Elkyn Rafael Lugo; Mario de la Puente
Journal of Water and Healthhttps://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2020.179
Editorial: bacterial antibiotic resistance in the water environment
Gary Toranzos; Maronel Steyn; Tasha Santiago-Rodriguez; Daisuke Sano
Journal of Water Policy
https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2019.160
Association between exposure to drinking water disinfection byproducts and adverse pregnancy
outcomes in South Africa(OPEN ACCESS)
Funanani Mashau, Esper Jacobeth Ncube, Kuku Voyi
Journal of Water and Healthhttps://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2020.214
Journal of Water & Health: Special Issue
What do we know about antimicrobial resistance inaquatic environments? On the release of an important
new Special Issue, Editors of Journal of Water & Healthtell us more about this crucial topic in water and sanitation. To learn more, read the author blog
here: https://www.iwapublishing.com/news/special-issue-water-health-author-blog-post.

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Email: order@bookmasters.com_________Pg19
IWA HRWM NEWSHR W M N E W SL ET T ER – M ay 20 2 2

IWA Head Office:Republic – Export Building, First Floor
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London E14 2BE
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Company registered in England No. 3597005
Registered Charity (England) No. 1076690_________Pg20
IWA HRWM NEWS