Andreas Farnleitner to chair the new ÖAW committee on wastewater monitoring
Andreas Farnleitner, Head of the Division Water Quality and Health at KL Krems, is taking over the chairmanship of the new "Wastewater Monitoring" subcommittee at the "Österreichischen Wasser und Abfallwirtschaftsverband" (ÖWAV).
his specialist group, which also includes other members of the division and the ICC Water & Health (Alexander Kirschner, Claudia Kolm, Mats Leifels, Rita Linke), will develop guidelines on how to efficiently implement microbiological wastewater monitoring in Austria using state-of-the-art methods, with molecular detection methods initially taking centre stage.
Since the COVID pandemic, wastewater monitoring using molecular methods (such as PCR and sequencing) has been increasingly used to draw conclusions about the incidence of infection in the population with regard to certain pathogens. In the post-COVID era, these could include other pathogenic viruses or antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but also chemical trace substances, medicines and drugs.
The technical committee is managed in coordination with the new cluster group "Epidemiological Waste Water Surveillance" of the International Water Association (IWA), in which the ICC Water & Health members also play a leading role. Other participants in the ÖWAV committee will include ministries, federal states, AGES, universities and others.
Univ.-Prof. PD Dr. Andreas Farnleitner MSc
Head of
Division of Water Quality and Health
