Table 1.

List of minimum information to accompany measurements of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater

Category	Variable	Description
Wastewater treatment plant & infrastructure	Sample location type	Primary influent, primary sludge, street line manhole, pump station, septic, on-facility (university campus, correctional facility, etc.), other
	Population served	Estimated population contributing to sample location
	Combined or separated system?	Combined, separated, mixed
	Primary county/municipality served	County/municipality, state/province, country
	Flow	Mean daily flow on day(s) of for sample collection. List “N/A” if this information is not available (e.g. for sewer or building samples)
Sample collection	Sample collection type	Grab, composite (flow-weighted or time-weighted, including composite duration), other
	Sample matrix	Raw wastewater, pre-treated wastewater (including pre-treatment type), wastewater solids, other
	Sample date	Date (MM/DD/YYYY) of sample collection from sewer system; if composite, composite sampling start date
	Sample time	Time of sample collection from sewer system; if composite, composite sampling start time
Sample processing	Pre-concentration storage temperature	Degrees Celsius (if available), on ice, dry ice, refrigerated, frozen. Specify number of freeze–thaw cycles, if any
	Concentration method & citation	PEGa precipitation, ultrafiltration, none, HA filtration, ultracentrifugation, nanotrap beads, other; include protocol citation
	Recovery control name & efficiency	BCoV,b BRSV,c MHV,d OC43,e other; include recovery efficiency if a control was used. List “none” if no recovery control was used
	Extraction method & citation	Kit-based (include kit name), TRIzol, MagBead, other; include protocol citation
	Amount of sample processed	Starting volume [mL] or mass [g] of raw sample processed
	Extraction blanks results	Signal not detected, signal detected (% positive), blanks not used
Target quantification	PCR type	qPCR, dPCR, other
	SARS-CoV-2 concentrations	Concentration back-calculated to raw sample volume/mass basis (e.g. copies per L wastewater or copies per g dry weight sludge)
	Identification of samples below LODf/LOQg	Flag as below LODf(BLOD) or below LOQg(BLOQ)
	SARS-CoV-2 target gene(s)	Gene target and primers/assay
	Endogenous wastewater control name & concentration	PMMoV,h crAssphage, HF183,i other; include concentration if measured. List “none” if no endogenous wastewater control was used
	Required MIQE17/dMIQE18 guidelines	Includes specifications for assessing RNA quantification & integrity, reaction conditions, no-template controls, positive controls, assay efficiencies (for qPCR), LOD,f LOQ,g inhibition testing, and others. See references17,18 for complete lists

^aPolyethylene glycol.

^bBovine coronavirus.

^cBovine respiratory syncytial virus.

^dMurine hepatitis virus.

^eHuman coronavirus OC43.

^fLimit of detection.

^gLimit of quantification.

^hPepper mild mottle virus.

ⁱHuman Bacteroides marker HF183.