Who knew raw sewage could be so helpful? This time of year, it's even more of a valuable asset for officials and communities.
In many areas across New Jersey, wastewater from homes' toilets, sinks, and baths is being tested on a regular basis to pick up on diseases circulating through the community.
"All the pipes that are connected to everyone's homes ... all those samples go down the drain and they come together anonymously into one single sample," said Marlene Wolfe, program director at WastewaterSCAN, which monitors a handful of water systems in New Jersey.
Testing can pick up on the presence of contagious diseases such as influenza, RSV, and COVID-19. It also has the ability to give communities a hint of how much of the virus is present in the area.
"That's really important information for public officials to know. It's important for individuals to know -- maybe they have a small baby and they want to be really careful about RSV this year," Wolfe said.
Testing can occur year-round, but it comes in handy more during cold-and-flu season.
As of early November, testing results from WastewaterSCAN's sites suggest the virus season hasn't picked up steam yet in New Jersey.
Use this WastewaterSCAN site to see virus activity in your area.
Other programs do the same work as WastewaterSCAN in New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Health has several wastewater testing sites throughout the state.
All testing occurs before the wastewater is treated to enter the community again.