Wastewater Surveillance

The Loxahatchee River District (LRD) is conducting Wastewater Surveillance to monitor trends of infection rates of several viruses and pathogens within our sewer system area.  These include:

  • SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19)
  • Influenza
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)
  • Measles (recently added)

LRD’s sewer system serves approximately 100,000 people in northern Palm Beach and southern Martin Counties.

What is Wastewater Surveillance?

Wastewater, or sewage, is water from our toilets, shower, and sinks and contains human waste.  This wastewater is pumped to and treated at LRD’s Wastewater Treatment Facility.

LRD is partnered with Biobot Analytics and WastewaterSCAN, leaders in molecular testing, to analyze untreated wastewater samples collected over a 24-hour period. These tests detect genetic fragments of viruses shed by both symptomatic and asymptomatic idividuals.

Why It Matters

People shed large amounts of virus early in their infection – often before symptoms appear.  The makes wastewater surveillance a powerful early warning system for community infection trends.

For example, studies show that SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater can predict clinical case trends 3 to 10 days in advance.

Our Testing Partners

  • Biobot Analytics
    • Testing began in May 2020
    • From August 8, 2022 and September 15, 2023, LRD was part of the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) and tested twice weekly
    • Biobot now tests once weekly (typically Monday), with results posted on Friday
  • WastewaterSCAN
    • Testing began September 14, 2022
    • A collaboration between Stanford University, Emory University, and Verily (Alphabet/Google’s life sciences division)
    • Now tests for 18 pathogens and variants
    • Sampling occurs three times per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

Viewing the Data

We provide graphical summaries of virus fragment concentrations from both WastewaterSCAN and Biobot. These results generally reflect trends in zip codes 33458, 33477 and 33469.

Note: Due to variability (e.g. rainfall, visitors, etc.), experts recommend focusing on overall trends, not individual data points.  WastwaterSCAN results are a smoothed 5-day average.

Below are links to more information.

How to Navigate the Visualizations:

  • Full Screen: Click the double arrows in the lower-right corner of the charts panel.  Press Esc to exit full screen.
  • Date Range: Adjust the date filter in the upper-left.
  • Focus Mode: Hover over a chart and click the square with arrow in the upper right (or tap on mobile).
    • Return to Panel: Click “Back to Report” in the upper-left.
  • More Charts: Use the page selector at the bottom center.


Program and Results Links:

LRD Program Notes:

  • Results are automatically updated each morning at approximately 5am.

Biobot’s Laboratory Reports

Biobot’s CSV File of Results – Latest file: June 13, 2025

If you would like any of the historical Lab reports, please contact the WildPine Laboratory at (561) 747-5700 or info@lrecd.org

Additional Links

For more information please contact Bud Howard, Director of Information Services, at bud.howard@lrecd.org or (561) 401-4037.