Presence, detection, and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and the sustainable remedial measures

Abstract The world is inundated by the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has resulted in millions of reported cases and loss of many lives since December 2019, when the first case was reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. The presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a virus causing COVID-19, has been confirmed in both the urine and feces of the infected people. In contrast, only the ribonucleic acid of the virus have been continuously isolated in wastewater. Currently, there is limited information on the virulence of SARS-CoV-2 and its infectivity in the wastewater environment; still, fecal-oral contamination and transmission cannot be ruled out yet. Early detection of the virus would have far-reaching benefits in curbing the spread of COVID-19 by employing effective tools like wastewater-based epidemiology to monitor hospital sewage and community wastewater in determining the prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 within the population. Moreover, there is a need to provide sustainable remedial approaches that can be employed to inactivate the virus in wastewater, and protective measures for the personnel and wastewater treatment workers against viral infections to forestall future pandemics and waterborne diseases. This study critically reviewed the knowledge gap focusing on the presence, detection, and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and biosolids. Furthermore, the sustainable remedial measures to address SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater environment are proposed and discussed. This study provides new and useful insights into the presence, detection, and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater environments, while proposing sustainable remedial approaches to preventing the COVID-19 transmission through this medium.