Cheyenne Monitoring Wastewater for Signs of COVID-19

Cheyenne will be collecting wastewater samples for COVID-19 testing in the coming weeks, the Board of Public Utilities announced Thursday.

The testing is being done in partnership with the Wyoming Department of Health, and the BOPU says it should provide near real-time data of any increase or decrease of COVID-19 cases spreading throughout the city at a fraction of the cost of wide-scale surveillance.

"(We) have continued essential water and wastewater services since the start of the pandemic," said BOPU Director Brad Brooks. "We hope this partnership will provide yet another tool to help fight this virus."

"We are pleased to see more communities participating in this effort,” said State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist. "We will be trending data over time to monitor how concentration changes and whether it can be used to estimate prevalence in each location."