The COVID-19 City Sentinel solution, developed by SUEZ in Spain, the business group to which Hidraqua belongs, for monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater, has been chosen by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, manager of the state-owned VATar COVID-19 project, together with the Ministry of Health, as the digital platform for delivering results and monitoring the evolution of the virus in wastewater. 

The aim of this project is microbiological surveillance in wastewater and bathing water as an early warning epidemiological indicator of the spread of VOCA-19. More than 30 urban waste water treatment plants throughout Spain are currently being monitored, with the aim of tracking the prevalence of the virus in a territory associated with a control point in the sewage network. Periodic analyses are carried out in specialised laboratories on samples provided by the managers of the treatment plants. The level of risk is calculated according to the values of the concentration of the virus in the samples, combined with public epidemiological data, among others. 

With the aim of providing a digital data exchange tool that integrates the results obtained in each zone, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge presented the COVID-19 City Sentinel platform of SUEZ Spain to the representatives of the Regional Ministries of Health and/or Water and Environment of the Autonomous Communities, at the meeting of the Early Warning Network Working Group on 28 October. Thus, City Sentinel will be the digital tool that the public administrations will have at their disposal to be able to visualize the concentrations of SAR-CoV-2 in the wastewater at the different control points of their respective communities, the maps of the tributary areas of each treatment plant, the history of measurements and their evolution. In addition, the platform aggregates relevant information to facilitate decision making, as it unifies and combines analytical results with indicators of health evolution in the area and knowledge of the network. This platform is completely flexible, scalable and accessible from any device with Internet access.

COVID-19 City Sentinel by SUEZ Spain is presented as an integral and optimum solution for public managers, providing them with a data management platform and a unique digital observatory on the current state of the epidemic in their territory and the trend of the same, which will help them to make effective decisions in health management.