Historical SARS-CoV-2 Concentrations in Chicago Wastewater

319,700 Chicagoans' wastewater was monitored for COVID-19 virus gene concentrations at eight sewershed sites. The dataset tracks normalized virus levels over time, providing a proxy for infection trends across different city locations. This historical-only data was published by data.cityofchicago.org.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in Normalized_N1 and n1_copies_L to detect surges or declines in community infection levels.
• Compare virus concentration patterns across different Sewershed_IDs to identify geographic hotspots of COVID-19 spread.
• Correlate sample_collect_date with pmmov_copies_L (a human fecal indicator) to validate wastewater data quality and normalization.
• Use Sewershed catchment area data to estimate population-level infection burden for approximately 319,700 residents.

Strengths

• Data covers eight distinct Sewershed sites representing wastewater from 319,700 residents.
• Includes normalized virus concentration (Normalized_N1) and raw gene copies per liter (n1_copies_L) for direct comparison.

Limitations

• Dataset is historical-only and replaced by a newer source, indicating it may not reflect current conditions.
• Unknown row count and sample size limits statistical analysis and model training.
• Data does not provide individual infection counts, only aggregated, proportional changes in virus shedding.

Provenance

Source

data.cityofchicago.org

Collection Method

Measurement of SARS-CoV-2 virus gene concentrations in wastewater samples from the Chicago sewer system.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Chicago, Illinois, USA, covering eight specific sewershed catchment areas.