This monitoring method is still being developed. We hope wastewater monitoring will help us to detect and track the virus more effectively in the future. Read more about this research programme on the website of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
Early indicators - Sewage water examination
Virus particles in wastewater
If you are infected with coronavirus, there are likely to be virus particles in your stool. These are flushed down the toilet and end up in wastewater. By testing samples of wastewater collected at wastewater treatment plants, we can get information about how widespread the virus is in the community. To find out more about the information on this page, go to ‘Explanation of the data presented’.
Average number of virus particles per 100,000 inhabitants
137.21
43.06 less than the previous valuex100 billion
The calculated average is based on all the wastewater measurements collected in one week. This figure also takes account of how many inhabitants are served by a wastewater treatment plant.
Number of measurements per week
309
302 of the 315 sampling locations reported at least one measurement in the given week.
Sampling locations can report multiple measurements per week. The number of measurements used per location per week can differ because not all measurements are successful.
Average number of virus particles over time (per 100,000 inhabitants)
This graph shows the average number of virus particles over time per 100,000 inhabitants.
x100 billion
Average number of virus particles per 100,000 inhabitants
This map shows the average number of virus particles per 100,000 inhabitants, per safety region.
Legend
- 0
- 50
- 500
- 1000
x100 billion