City employees Eric Swope and Matt Niven on Tuesday gather a wastewater sample from the manhole next to Brickyard Pond at Keene State College to be tested for COVID-19. They gather three 24-hour samples per week and send two to the lab for testing.
City employees Eric Swope and Matt Niven on Tuesday gather a wastewater sample from the manhole next to Brickyard Pond at Keene State College to be tested for COVID-19. They gather three 24-hour samples per week and send two to the lab for testing. Credit: Hannah Schroeder

HANOVER — The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health Services has launched a COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance Program, which includes monitoring in three Upper Valley communities, according to a DHHS news release.

People who are infected with the COVID-19 virus, symptomatic or not, can shed the virus in waste. Samples collected from wastewater treatment facilities and tested by the State Public Health Laboratories can help determine trends in the levels of COVID-19, perhaps providing an earlier warning sign of rising levels.

Participating wastewater treatment facilities in the Upper Valley include the Hanover Water Reclamation Facility, Newport Wastewater Treatment Facility and Sunapee Wastewater Treatment Plant. Eleven other facilities around the state also are participating.

The program is funded through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data will soon be available online on the New Hampshire COVID-19 website, covid19.nh.gov/.