How can I view my data?
Our Public Data Visualization aggregates sample data from your, and possibly other, sampling locations within your county and averages those values over 3 samples to reflect viral spread at the county level. By viewing the plot for your specific county and hovering over the graph, you can view the individual data points that represent an aggregation of samples from your county. This data is updated weekly, so you can identify the specific data point that represents a week of samples from your county, including any samples you have collected in that week.
Why is data aggregated to the county level?
For the reporting of wastewater data on our public data visualization, we use county-level data to match the finest level of granularity that is publicly available for Covid-19 clinical case data. The CDC also promotes county-level insights, so we are adopting this industry standard for the wastewater data as well. While county boundaries may not exactly align with sewershed boundaries, aggregation of data at the county level still allows users of the data to easily compare wastewater data to clinical case data within the representative county, in addition to other data sources that the CDC promotes.
How many other participants are there in my county? Am I the only one?
In order to respect the privacy of our customers, we are not able to share details about which or how many wastewater treatment plants are included in each county. Aggregating the data from samples analyzed to the county level preserves a degree of anonymity for participating organizations, while also showing data that is meaningful and specific to each community.
Why does the data in my PDF report look different from the public data visualization on Biobot's website?
Raw and effective concentrations for samples submitted by your specific location are shown in your PDF reports. The website data reflects a three-sample weighted average concentration of the three most recent samples sent, and will therefore vary from the values in each sample's individual report. Data on the website is also aggregated at the county level, and may include values from other sampling locations within your same county.
How will variant data be reported?
Variant data will be added to our publicly available data visualization as soon as it becomes available. Variant sequencing data is updated approximately 2 weeks after the sample collection date. Variant data is available at the county level, and represents an average of the wastewater measurements for any contributing facilities in the county.
If the variant data for my county is not shown, does that mean it was not detected?
Variant sequencing from the most recent batch of samples is reflected on the website. Where no variant data is shown, it is possible that either there was not a sample to sequence in the most recent batch, there was a PCR inhibitor in the sample, or the virus concentration level was too low to sequence.