As of January 2022, trends from a nearly one-and-a-half year COVID-19 study at all seven Westchester County Wastewater Treatment plants continue
to show decreasing levels. This follows trends of active cases in the county as the spread of the omicron variant wanes.
“As we move past the Omicron variant spike of active COVID-19 cases, these trends are a welcome sign,” County Executive George Latimer said.
“Data and information are the tools that help guide the decisions of my Administration and I commend the work of the Department of Environmental Facilities
on their partnership and efforts on this study.”
SARS-CoV-2 RNA laboratory results from the 24-hour composite collected on January 16, while still showing the presence of COVID-19 in each of the seven sewer sheds, show that those levels in each of the seven sewer sheds have decreased significantly. The decreased levels of copies per capita in all of the sewer sheds is indicating a continued leveling off and a definitive downturn from the previous spike.
Since early in the pandemic, the Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities, DEF, has partnered with the New York City Department
of Environmental Protection, DEP, to study the wastewater at county treatment plants to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on large urban areas.
“Our Department has had a great working relationship with NYCDEP on this study to help find answers to the pandemic and allowing us to better serve the public,” said DEF Commissioner Vincent Kopicki.The relationship between Westchester County and city DEP is a true partnership where both organizations
benefit. The county’s IT Department developed the software dashboard to organize and display the results of the sampling, while the county DEF takes the weekly samples from its wastewater treatment facilities. City DEP then performs the lab analysis for all samples. (Submitted)
Treatment Facility Copies/L Copies/capita
Blind Brook 115,433 down 45.6
Mamaroneck 280,365 down 156
New Rochelle 427,593 down 222
Ossining 99,356 down 39.1
Port Chester 332,872 down 143
Yonkers-Joint 112,484 down 61.7
