Your city's sewage system is quietly monitoring infectious diseases circulating in your community, often weeks before people realize they're getting sick. Vermont's Department of Health has launched an interactive wastewater monitoring dashboard that tracks influenza A and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) across six treatment facilities, providing residents and health officials with real-time data on virus levels in their area .

How Does Wastewater Surveillance Actually Work?

When people flush toilets, shower, wash their hands, or spit toothpaste down the drain, they shed traces of infectious diseases if they're infected, even without showing any symptoms. These viral particles travel through the sewage system to treatment facilities, where operators collect water samples one to three times per week and send them to laboratories for testing .

The labs test these samples to detect and report on different types of infections circulating in the community. Unlike traditional disease tracking that relies on people visiting doctors or getting tested, wastewater monitoring provides a community-level snapshot of what's actually spreading, regardless of whether individuals seek medical care .

Why Should You Care About Wastewater Data?

Wastewater monitoring serves as an early warning system for public health officials, medical professionals, and the public. It can detect the start of seasonal viruses or show when the spread is slowing down, often providing visibility weeks before hospitals see a surge in patient visits. The Vermont dashboard currently monitors six participating water treatment facilities in Burlington, Essex Junction, South Burlington, Middlebury, Montpelier, and Ludlow, with plans to add RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) testing in the future .

When virus levels are high or increasing in your area, it signals that there's an elevated risk of infection in your community, even if you haven't heard about outbreaks from friends or family. This early warning allows people to take preventive steps before they get sick.

Steps to Protect Yourself When Wastewater Virus Levels Rise

• Hand Hygiene: Wash your hands frequently throughout the day, especially before eating, after using the bathroom, and after being in public spaces. This simple step blocks viruses from entering your body through your mouth, nose, or eyes.
• Mask Usage in Crowds: When wastewater data shows high virus levels, wearing a mask in crowded indoor settings like public transportation, grocery stores, or busy workplaces reduces your risk of inhaling viral particles.
• Vaccination Updates: Stay current on flu and COVID-19 vaccines. When wastewater monitoring indicates rising virus activity, it's an ideal time to ensure your vaccinations are up to date, as vaccines remain your strongest defense against severe illness.
• Extra Caution Around Vulnerable People: If you're around people at higher risk of serious illness, such as older adults, immunocompromised individuals, or those with chronic conditions, take additional precautions when community virus levels are elevated.

What Are the Limitations of Wastewater Monitoring?

While wastewater surveillance is a powerful tool, it has important limitations. The data doesn't show how many people are actually sick or needing medical care, only how much virus is circulating. Additionally, people using septic systems, disposable diapers, or those connected to water treatment facilities not participating in the program may not be represented in the data .

Environmental factors also influence readings. Heavy rain or snowmelt can dilute wastewater samples and affect virus level measurements, potentially skewing the data. Despite these limitations, wastewater monitoring remains a valuable complement to traditional disease surveillance methods.

How to Access Vermont's Wastewater Dashboard

Vermont's interactive dashboard is updated every Tuesday with the prior week's data. To use it, you can pick a specific virus from the virus selection box, choose individual water treatment sites to compare local data with statewide trends, or view overall statewide patterns. The dashboard allows you to adjust the time period using a slider to see how virus levels have changed over weeks or months, and you can download raw data for further analysis .

The dashboard currently displays data for influenza A and SARS-CoV-2, with samples tested at either WastewaterSCAN or Verily laboratories. Water samples are collected from participating facilities in Burlington, Essex Junction, South Burlington, Middlebury, Montpelier, and Ludlow.

As wastewater monitoring expands across the country, this approach offers a glimpse into how public health is evolving. Rather than waiting for people to get sick and seek care, communities can now detect disease threats in real time and encourage preventive action before outbreaks spiral. If you live in Vermont or another area with wastewater surveillance, checking your local dashboard during respiratory illness season could help you make smarter decisions about when to mask up, boost your vaccinations, or take extra precautions around vulnerable people .