Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) said on the 14th that, together with a research team led by Nishimura Fumitake of Kyoto University in Japan, it scientifically identified how well wastewater treatment plants remove human-derived pathogens such as bacteria and viruses.
Wastewater epidemiology is a technique that assesses the spread of infectious diseases in a region by analyzing sewer lines and wastewater treatment plants where pathogens discharged by infected people gather. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, this method has drawn attention as a means for early detection of infectious diseases through wastewater.
However, to quickly grasp when and how widely an infectious disease is spreading, the key is how effectively wastewater treatment plants filter out pathogens and how reliable those data are.
The research team led by Kim Il-ho, Head of Team at KICT's Environmental Research Division, analyzed the removal rates of human-derived pathogens in wastewater treatment processes specialized for nitrogen and organic matter removal. As a result, the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was removed by 99.9%, fecal-origin viruses by 98.5%, and total coliforms by 99.9%. This shows that wastewater treatment plants effectively block the spread of pathogens from infected people into the environment.
The research team also analyzed the relationship between water quality indicators and pathogen concentrations at each wastewater treatment stage, confirming a high correlation between the fluorescence signal–based organic matter indicator and pathogen concentration. This means that measuring fluorescence in real time can quickly identify changes in pathogen concentrations.
The study is expected to significantly help enhance the reliability of wastewater epidemiology, which predicts the spread of infectious diseases, by analyzing the correlation between pathogen concentrations in wastewater and water quality indicators.
The research team is currently developing a model that uses machine learning to predict the number of infected people in a region based on wastewater data.
KICT President Park Seon-gyu said, "This study demonstrated the correlation between water quality indicators at wastewater treatment plants and pathogen concentrations," adding, "Based on this, we expect to develop real-time monitoring technologies for pathogens in wastewater and contribute to strengthening regional infectious disease response capabilities."
The findings were published on Jul. 7 in the international journal "Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances."
References
Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hazadv.2025.100796