Professor Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern is leading this international project. Source: University of bathExperts from the University of Bath and Stellenbosch University, South Africa, are jointly developing a notification system to alert communities to concerns with sewage systems.

By measuring biomarkers -- molecules produced by the body characterizing illness and disease -- in urban sewage systems from a combination of human waste, wastewater and run-off samples from the local population, researchers hope to understand the health status of the surrounding community and environment.

Providing real-time health profiles of the water samples will, according to researchers, help government health officials to identify potential public health risks early on, thereby potentially reducing the chances for infectious disease crises or pandemics.

“This project focusing on urban water profiling can become a truly effective, real time and low-cost local, national and ultimately global surveillance system enabling authorities to effectively identify and prevent threats to an urban population’s health,” Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, lead investigator and professor in environment & analytical chemistry at the University of Bath.

Using advanced methodology in chemistry, genetics and electronics, researchers have identified Stellenbosch as the subject for the case study.

“South Africa, where 65 percent of the population live in urban settings and is predicted to grow to 80 percent by 2050, provides a good representation of the alarming rate of urbanization that often exceeds the rate at which additional medical care can be introduced," said Professor in Microbiology and Director of Stellenbosch University Water Institute, Gideon Wolfaardt. "Community-wide surveillance can thus become a powerful first line of defense in health care and the experience gained here can be transferred to other countries.”