Who sees what you flush? Wastewater surveillance for public health is on the rise, but a new survey reveals many US adults are still unaware

Whether a wastewater sample is taken at the street level or a treatment plant affects the size of the group of people it represents. University of Louisville, CC BY-ND

Flush and forget? Not if you have a toilet that flushes to one of over 3,000 sites around the world where researchers are using wastewater to track SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

But what do members of the public actually know about wastewater surveillance? And what do they think about researchers tracking what they send down the drain at their home?