Orange County is actively participating in the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Health and Human Services (HHS) National Wastewater Surveillance System. The program monitors wastewater from water reclamation facilities across the United States for concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The data collected by the program helps the CDC and local authorities better understand the spread of the virus in communities. The concentrations tested reflect both symptomatic and asymptomatic residents, alerting participating organizations to spikes in infections four to ten days before positive case numbers would reflect changes within the community.

wastewater sampling data dashboard

Orange County’s water reclamation facilities serve approximately 870,000 people. Although sampling results will fluctuate as infected individuals go in and out of the virus shedding cycle, the results provide an early warning of total infections in the areas served by the water reclamation facilities.