A new sewage analysis system that detects COVID-19 and predicts future outbreaks has been developed by scientists.

Going under the name Sewers4COVID, a group of researchers from Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK have been using sewage wastewater analysis to trace coronavirus.

Normally wastewater is studied to track levels of drug and pesticide concentrations, but now it is also being looked at in the fight against coronavirus.

"There is a bit of a yuck factor with sewers, and the only people who work with that get really excited," said researcher Dragan Savic of KWR Water Research Institute – but that could change now.

Sewers4COVID was selected during the #EUvsVirus hackathon to develop the system.

Wastewater samples are collected and analyzed for COVID-19 RNA genetic residues, which can be used as a reliable indicator of the level of infection in the area.

"We participated in a 48 hours hackathon and we came up with this solution, combining source surveillance with the informatic side of things – artificial intelligence, machine learning," said Savic.

"We can find the best way for an early warning system, to show how geographically this is developing so that we can find hotspots and where resources should be focused."

The data is fed into software that uses machine learning to calculate infection rates. It has the potential to show if the level of infection is increasing even before people start to feel unwell.

Their prototype proves sewer surveillance could be an effective tool in the fight against COVID-19 and they are now looking into the feasibility of setting up a continent-wide monitoring system.

"This technology can help over time to better understand what is happening in the population," said Savic.

"Because, again, testing is very limited and we get just the sample. What is happening with the population? With this technology, you get a really good picture of the large population. In that sense, wastewater is like a mirror of society."

Check out our new six-part podcast series Notes on a Pandemic as CGTN Europe finds out how business, science and people have risen to the challenge of COVID-19.