Campus Wastewater Testing Summer 2021

By Amy Glicken
July 27, 2021
To: Campus Community
From: Test, Trace, Treat
Subject: Campus Wastewater Testing Summer 2021
Date: Jul 27, 2021

Notice Regarding Wastewater Testing

Following the advice of public health and medical experts, the University of Arizona has developed a comprehensive plan to keep our campus community as safe and healthy as possible. The core of this plan is our Test, Trace, Treat initiative, coupled with CDC guidelines for prevention. 

One of the Test, Trace, Treat strategies that takes place on campus is wastewater-based epidemiology. 

An Environmental Science research team with expertise in wastewater-based epidemiology is testing the wastewater that comes out of University dorms and other buildings on campus for COVID-19. This testing does not identify individuals or even floors of buildings that might have infections. Wastewater testing is a helpful method for monitoring general campus community health and identifying any of the COVID-19 variants of concern on campus. 

There are eight collection sites during summer 2021. Some collection sites will evaluate wastewater emitted from a single building at the sewer line, while other collection sites will evaluate the wastewater emitted from multiple buildings that use the same sewer line. Collection sites are as follows:  

  • Collection Site 1: Colonia de la Paz dorm.
  • Collection Site 2: La Aldea graduate student housing.
  • Collection Site 3: Park and Second Street, including the Arizona State Museum, Cesar E. Chavez Building (Economics), Center for English as a Second Language, Engineering and Maricopa dorm.
  • Collection Site 4: Park and University Boulevard, including the Arizona State Museum North, Centennial Hall, Douglass, and Social Sciences.
  • Collection Site 5: Park and Campus Drive, including the Emil W. Haury Anthropology Building, SUMC Bookstore, Chemistry and Carl S. Marvel Laboratories of Chemistry, Cochise dorm, Forbes, Herring Hall, Robert L. Nugent Building, Old Main, Saguaro Hall, South Hall, and Student Union Memorial Center.
  • Collection Site 6: Park and Fourth Street, including Gould-Simpson, Marley, McClelland Park, Physics-Atmospheric Sciences, Shantz, and Yavapai dorm.
  • Collection Site 7: Park and Lowell Street (north side), including Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Biological Sciences West, Life Sciences South, and Mathematics.
  • Collection Site 8: Park and Lowell Street (south side), including Environment and Natural Resources 2, Dennis DeConcini Environment and Natural Resources, Sixth Street Parking Garage, offices and greenhouses.

Results from any specific building will not be shared publicly. Results are shared with Senior Leaders, the COVID Incident Command System, the Public Health Advisory Coronavirus Team), the COVID-19 Response Team, Campus Health, Housing and Residential Life, Facilities Management, SAFER Contact Tracers, Pima County Health Department, and the Arizona Department of Health Services.

If you have questions about this testing, please contact our Test, Trace, Treat team at t3@arizona.edu.

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