Image description: The Roman Baths museum in Bath. Image credit Rachel Claire / Pexels.

The University of Bath has opened the UK’s first pilot wastewater monitoring centre which it says could help avoid future pandemics.

The early-warning public health surveillance system is based on detecting traces of chemicals and biological markers found in water.

Researchers at the £13m Centre of Excellence Water-Based Early-Warning Systems for Health Protection (CWBE) will track virus and bacterial DNA in wastewater samples, which can act as an early-warning system for outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Weekly samples from four “living labs” in areas of Bath and Bristol, and in rural Paulton and Radstock, Somerset, will be monitored. The team will also track chemicals excreted by the body indicating chronic disease, stress or inflammation, use of medications or illicit drugs, dietary habits or exposure to pesticides, hazardous chemicals, and household and personal care products.

This information can be analysed alongside prescription data, demographics and other information to give a snapshot of the health of the community at population level, and the local environment, so-called wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).

Initial data from CWBE will provide a baseline over one year, after which researchers can introduce and test interventions to improve public health. Once established in Bath, the team hopes the system will be rolled out nationwide, and the data could be used to alert public health teams of new outbreaks and help hospitals prepare for treating patients.