Bath launches UK’s first water monitoring centre to act as early-warning system for community health

We're launching the UK’s first early-warning public health surveillance system based on detecting traces of chemicals and biological markers found in water. The Centre of Excellence in Water-Based Early-Warning Systems for Health Protection (CWBE) will collect and analyse community (waste)water that could be used to alert public health teams of new outbreaks, helping hospitals to prepare for treating patients and take infection control measures to minimise further spread. As well as helping prevent pandemics by detecting disease spread early, research at the Centre will provide better understanding of chronic, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and health risk factors. CWBE is led by Professor Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, from the University’s Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change, along with partners including Wessex Water, the UK Health Security Agency and departments from the UK Government. Researchers will work with partners at Wessex Water to collect and analyse weekly water samples from four “living labs” in the urban catchment areas of Bath and Bristol, and the more rural catchments of Paulton and Radstock in Somerset. The team will analyse the samples for hundreds of trace chemicals as well as pathogen markers such as virus and bacterial RNA/DNA, which can act as an early-warning system for outbreaks of infectious diseases. The team will also track chemicals excreted by the body indicating chronic disease, stress or inflammation, use of medications or illicit drugs, dietary habits or exposure to pesticides, hazardous chemicals, and household and personal care products.