The virus SARS-CoV-2, which has caused the recent COVID-19 pandemic, may be present in the stools of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, we aimed to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater for surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in the population. Samples of untreated wastewater were collected from 33 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of different sizes within the Czech Republic. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was concentrated from wastewater and viral RNA was determined using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 11.6% of samples and more than 27.3% of WWTPs; in some of them, SARS-CoV-2 was detected repeatedly. Our preliminary results indicate that an epidemiology approach that focuses on the determination of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater could be suitable for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in the population.

The purpose of the study is to explore the sorption behaviour of anthropogenic radionuclides in the Vltava River catchment in the Czech Republic, which could be influenced by an assumptive severe nuclear accident. Radionuclide sorption was described by distribution coefficients between water and sediment or suspended solids, respectively. Then, possible correlations between radionuclide sorption and sediment properties were investigated using simple and multiple regressions. The sorption of radionuclides was affected by sediment granularity and mineralogical composition, each radionuclide having its group of influencing sediment parameters.