Canyon, Texas
March 10, 2024
March 10, 2024
March 12, 2024
2
10.18260/1-2--45396
https://peer.asee.org/45396
90
I am a recent graduate of WTAMU's Masters program. My degree is in environmental engineering and this poster is a summary of the work I did for my thesis.
As COVID-19 spread throughout the United States and the world in general, researchers and officials tried to monitor the spread of the pandemic. Much of this research focused on municipalities and not rural areas or small towns. This research was done to see if using wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) and graphical information systems (GIS) could be feasible in a rural/small town setting.
A definition of feasibility for this context was established samples of wastewater were collected from Canyon, Texas and analyzed, with the results plotted on map using ArcGIS Pro. Other factors of feasibility such as accuracy of results, demand, acceptability, costs, time, practicality, and how to implement and integrate the process were analyzed using the experience of collecting and testing the wastewater samples.
The results sided with the prospect that it is feasible to track COVID-19, and other pathogens, through wastewater using WBE and GIS. However, the ones doing the sample collection, testing, and mapping should be trained. Finally, the local officials should weigh the benefits against the practicality, demand, and acceptability of using WBE and GIS to decide if the method should be used.
Voiles, C. M. (2024, March), The Feasibility of Using WBE and GIS to Monitor COVID-19 in a Small Town or Rural Setting Paper presented at 2024 ASEE-GSW, Canyon, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--45396
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2024 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015