Wastewater Monitoring

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Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division
651-201-5414
IDEPC Comment Form

Contact Info

Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division
651-201-5414
IDEPC Comment Form

Wastewater Monitoring in Minnesota (Data & Statistics)

Updated 2/26/2026
Updated weekly on Thursdays at 11 a.m. with latest data available, unless noted otherwise.

Monitoring Wastewater Data

Wastewater monitoring for infectious diseases is a rapidly developing field. 

  • The Minnesota Department of Health Public Health Laboratory routinely tests wastewater from a number of sites across Minnesota for the presence of various diseases. We also work in collaboration with the University of Minnesota to test wastewater, including previous work on COVID-19: University of Minnesota: Minnesota Wastewater Surveillance Study.
  • Nationally, various state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments including the Minnesota Department of Health participate in the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) and submit wastewater testing data to CDC. CDC then standardizes and interprets these data and presents them on CDC: National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS).
  • How often sites collect wastewater samples and how frequently data are reported to MDH and CDC varies by submitter.

Wastewater data are meant to be used with other disease surveillance data to better understand disease trends in communities across the state.

On this page:
Wastewater Weekly Detection Map
Average Weekly Wastewater Concentrations by Region
Average Weekly Wastewater Concentrations by Site
COVID-19: Statewide Wastewater Values Compared to Hospitalization Trends

Wastewater Weekly Detection Map

This map illustrates the detection or absence of different respiratory pathogens in each wastewater site in recent weeks.

How to use the map: To view results you must select a pathogen from the dropdown filter. Clicking on a region will drill down to specific sites in that area. In statewide view, if a region becomes highlighted just click anywhere on the map to un-select it. 

Downloadable data: Wastewater Weekly Detection Map (CSV)

  • Most wastewater sites collect samples twice per week. This map displays whether any sample in the chosen week showed presence (green circle) or absence (blue diamond) of the selected pathogen.
  • Gray asterisks indicate that samples were not collected or received that week for a particular site.
  • Blue circles indicate that a pathogen has not been selected in the drop down menu at the top of the map.

Average Weekly Wastewater Concentrations by Region

This graph illustrates the average concentration of a pathogen in wastewater samples by region of the state. These values can be useful to determine if the amount of virus in wastewater is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same across time. It does not indicate how many people might be infected or carrying a pathogen. The regional levels can be compared to the statewide average (in red).

Downloadable data: Regional Wastewater Data (CSV)

  • All concentration data are normalized to the level of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) in the sample. PMMoV is a virus that is harmless to humans but infects peppers and is abundant in human waste. PMMoV concentrations may increase or decrease as the amount of fecal material in wastewater increases or decreases.  Normalizing our data to PMMoV corrects for variations in the amount of wastewater processed on a given day and at different sites.
  • Regional data shown in this graph illustrate the average concentration of a given pathogen across for all samples from all sites within that region for the week shown.
  • Data in this graph have been smoothed using a 4-week moving average. Moving averages combine the raw values from preceding days or weeks and then average them (e.g., a 4-week moving average combines data from the current week and the previous 3 weeks and averages them). They are useful for observing trends in data which have larger fluctuations over short periods of time. Raw data of the normalized concentrations are visible in the tooltip and available in the downloadable CSV file.  

     

Average Weekly Wastewater Concentrations by Site

This graph illustrates the average concentration of a pathogen by individual wastewater treatment plant within each region. These values can be useful to determine if the amount of virus in wastewater is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same across time. It does not indicate how many people might be infected or carrying a pathogen.

Downloadable data: Wastewater Treatment Plant Site Data (CSV)

  • All concentration data are normalized to the level of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) in the sample. PMMoV is a virus that is harmless to humans but infects peppers and is abundant in human waste. PMMoV concentrations may increase or decrease as the amount of fecal material in wastewater increases or decreases. Normalizing our data to PMMoV corrects for variations in the amount of wastewater processed on a given day and at different sites.
  • Data in this graph have been smoothed using a 4-week moving average. Moving averages combine the raw values from preceding days or weeks and then average them (e.g., a 4-week moving average combines data from the current week and the previous 3 weeks and averages them). They are useful for observing trends in data which have larger fluctuations over short periods of time. Raw data of the normalized concentrations are visible in the tooltip and available in the downloadable CSV file.

COVID-19: Statewide Wastewater Values Compared to Hospitalization Trends

This graph illustrates the average concentration of SARS-CoV-2 virus identified in statewide wastewater samples compared to hospital admissions across the state. Wastewater has been shown to increase slightly earlier than for COVID-19 hospitalizations and may serve as an early warning for potential hospitalization increases.

Downloadable data: Wastewater Compared to Hospitalization Trends (CSV)

  • All concentration data are normalized to the level of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) in the sample. PMMoV is a virus that is harmless to humans but infects peppers and is abundant in human waste. PMMoV concentrations may increase or decrease as the amount of fecal material in wastewater increases or decreases.  Normalizing our data to PMMoV corrects for variations in the amount of wastewater processed on a given day and at different sites.
  • Wastewater data is calculated as the 4-week moving average of all normalized wastewater concentrations statewide. This is calculated by adding the weekly average concentrations from the current week to the weekly average concentration from the previous 3 weeks and averaging them.
  • Hospitalizations over time are shown using the 4-week moving average of the statewide weekly hospitalization rate. This is calculated by adding the weekly hospitalization rate from the current week to the hospitalization rate from the previous 3 weeks and averaging them.
Last Updated: 02/26/2026

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