Infectious agents enter wastewater i.e. through feces and can be detected there. The systematic monitoring of wastewater for infectious agents with the aim of making decisions for population-based measures is referred to as wastewater-based surveillance (also known as wastewater surveillance for short). The collected data allow for insights into the trend of infection dynamics. The measured values can be compared and analyzed in conjunction with information from existing reporting systems. Experts can thus comprehensively assess the local situation and derive population-based measures for pandemic management.

YouTube: Playlist Abwassermonitoring / Wastewater monitoring

AMELAG

The AMELAG project (Wastewater Monitoring for Epidemiological Situation Assessment) aims for the continuous monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 virus load in wastewater. Meanwhile, this effort was extended to Influenzavirus and  respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Up to 70 wastewater treatment plants are sampled weekly in 2025.

Key tasks include: 

• Harmonizing workflows, quality control, data normalization, and trend calculation
• Further development of data infrastructure
• Expanding wastewater-based monitoring to other pathogens or disease indicators
• Preparation of wastewater-based surveillance for the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive
• Enhancing wastewater-based surveillance nationally and internationally

Report

Weekly Report on Wastewater Surveillance

Open data from AMELAG are available on Zenodo and GitHub.

Partners in AMELAG

The project AMELAG is funded by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG). It is carried out by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). Also involved are the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection (BMUV), wastewater treatment plant operators of the 16 federal states, state laboratories as well as service providers for logistics and laboratory services. 

The team of scientists is interdisciplinary and brings expertise from natural sciences, medical sciences and communication sciences, as well as data science and statistics.

Duration: November 1, 2022, to December 31, 2025

Scientific Questions within AMELAG

Wastewater represents a significant source of information and offers many possibilities for monitoring pathogens. To fully harness the potential of this future technology, research is necessary. The following research projects are part of AMELAG. Research is conducted at the Federal Environment Agency, the Robert Koch Institute, as well as at universities and by other research partners.

• Research at the Robert Koch Institute
• International Project EU-WISH
• Publications

Contact

E-mail: abwassersurveillance@rki.de