Veolia, the world leader in water technologies, is at the helm of a groundbreaking European epidemiological surveillance program that leverages wastewater as a real-time health indicator. The goal: detect emerging threats early and protect urban populations across the continent.
Up to 500 wastewater samples gathered from European cities will be analyzed in Veolia’s laboratories in Spain over the course of this three-year program, which it will also oversee for monitoring purposes. Every sample will be subjected to over 500 comprehensive analyses that will look for a variety of contaminants, bacteria, viruses, and drug residues.
Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia said : “Being a pioneer means anticipating tomorrow’s challenges, and that’s exactly what we’re doing here, by transforming wastewater into an early warning tool on a European scale. This project is a tangible example of our GreenUp strategy plan, which states that our environmental solutions also improve citizen health and the resilience of European regions.We are excited to lay the groundwork for a more integrated, smart, and preventive public health system in the European Union by bringing the Group’s experience in environmental health and water treatment.
Veolia is spearheading the project in collaboration with the University of Santiago de Compostela, Cetaqua (Veolia Water Technology Center), and the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council). It is founded on over a decade of field experience monitoring wastewater in Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville, which covers almost one-third of Spain’s population.
This project is in line with the updated wastewater treatment European directive, which formally incorporates epidemiological surveillance as a public health pillar. As part of the European “One Health” strategy, it will strengthen Europe’s health sovereignty while facilitating the analysis of collective behavior, the evaluation of the effects of public policies, and the discovery of new threats. Recently, the European Strategy for Water Resilience reaffirmed this idea.
Veolia Spain CEO Daniel Tugues stated: “The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed wastewater’s unrealized potential for public health monitoring. This project applies what has been learned on a large scale. The fact that our teams’ expertise is acknowledged on a European scale makes us extremely proud. Because of this project, Spain is leading the way in a new approach to environmental health that combines technological innovation, scientific rigor, and a dedication to the common good.
Source : Veolia
