At the recent Blue Cities conference in Toronto, which typically focuses on water utility concerns, Canadian Water Network extended invitations to individuals from the public health sphere. This infusion led to new health-related topics, such as increased wastewater surveillance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The extensive spread of COVID-19 demanded immediate action from public health officials, scientists and society at large to comprehend its impact locally and globally. Determining the infection status by testing individuals on a large scale posed challenges, being expensive and impractical for sizeable populations. The use of wastewater detection proved to be an excellent alternative to understanding the spread of the disease.
This cross-pollination of municipal divisions at the Blue Cities conference demonstrated the potential for data collaboration. Both water utilities and public health units can benefit from using GIS technology while ensuring each department is responsible for their own data. The opportunity lies in the GIS acting as a bridge between departmental silos by facilitating organization-wide accessibility.
We typically discuss GIS data management in the form of capturing, editing, visualizing, analyzing and sharing. GIS proves highly effective in supporting data integration due to its use of location to establish relationships among various datasets. When working with diverse data sources, examining columns and records may not reveal clear insights. In a GIS, data integration and map visualization serve as a translator, unifying languages and revealing patterns everyone can understand.
Using GIS, a public health unit can improve wastewater surveillance by understanding the sewershed collection. While the water utility’s wastewater network spans diverse service areas, a demographic overview of a specific sewershed aids in surveillance prioritization. Factors like population density, age demographics, vaccination rates and vulnerable facilities, such as elderly care homes, helps gauge illness susceptibility. This collaboration between the public health unit and water department enables proactive surveillance placement, streamlining communication and healthcare preparedness.
The link between illness and essential elements such as water or air is not a new concept. Physician and anesthesia researcher Dr. John Snow used mapping during the 1850s London cholera outbreak to visualize disease patterns and identify infection sources. An early-day epidemiologist, Dr. Snow mapped cholera cases in Soho and found a cluster around the Broad Street well pump, sourced from the contaminated River Thames. Realizing most infected individuals lived near and used this pump, Dr. Snow convinced a London local council to remove the pump handle and render it useless. As a result, the cholera epidemic in Soho began to decline sharply. This action not only stopped the outbreak but also paved the way for better understanding of disease transmission, improving sanitation practices across England and contributing to cholera’s eventual eradication nationwide. Today, with vast amounts of data and GIS technology, such methodologies pioneered by Snow are applied swiftly for large-scale public health strategies.
Map by Dr. John Snow showing cholera outbreak deaths (marked with black) in Soho, London, England 1854.
Leveraging data from one department alongside another is essential for tackling complex issues in any organization. It involves employing various data sources, integrating real-time data. Utilizing a scale model representation of the real world helps pinpoint the root cause, diagnose issues, and apply location intelligence for predictive analysis or devising mitigation plans. This transformation of data into actionable insights enables organizations to be proactive, coordinating resources effectively to prepare for future challenges.
Resources
How GIS Brings Wastewater Surveillance to Life
Medical mapping: Early histories
About the author
This article was written by Armando LaCivita, who is responsible for supporting organizations in the utility vertical with their digital transformation. He works with many industry stakeholders and business partners to align customer needs with industry solutions. As the utilities business development manager at Esri Canada, Armando helps customers become successful with using location intelligence and GIS technology.