The Grand Challengers Podcast Episode #48

Sewers, Drugs and Rock n’ Roll – from wastewater surveillance to saving lives in the pandemic

Guest: Christoph Ort

August 26th, 2025

Episode Teaser

Introduction

“…just science alone would not have had the resource to make this big calibration experiment…”

Christoph Ort is Head of the Urban Water Management Department at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology (Eawag). Christoph’s mission of understanding the dynamics of pollutants in sewer systems and close relationship with environmental chemistry and microbiology has shaped his interdisciplinary work, that is actively supporting public health. He is well-known for his work in wastewater-based surveillance, where he searches the sewer network for illicit drugs, pathogens, pharmaceuticals and other biomarkers to complement and better our understanding of their spatial and temporal trends.

On today’s show, Christoph and I go in-depth of wastewater-based surveillance, including related fields of sewer sociology and wastewater-based epidemiology. We discuss terminology, process, interesting insights from major studies that Christoph was part of and how crucial the interdisciplinary collaboration was, especially in supporting communities with valuable data during the COVID pandemic.

Biography

Dr. Christoph Ort is a global leader in environmental engineering and wastewater-based epidemiology, currently serving as Head of the Department of Urban Water Management at Eawag in Switzerland. He completed his PhD dissertation at ETH Zurich in 2006. He spent some time of his research career in Brisbane Australia (2008-2010) before returning in 2011 to continue his work at Eawag. His research philosophy centers on viewing wastewater as one of the most information-rich waste streams of our society, combining full-scale measurements, modeling, and laboratory experiments to unlock insights into pollutant dynamics and environmental variables. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his pioneering work gained international recognition as he co-led Switzerland’s national wastewater monitoring program for SARS-CoV-2, developing groundbreaking methodologies including the COJAC method for detecting viral variants in wastewater.

Christoph’s scholarly contributions span over 134 publications in environmental science and public health surveillance, with more than 11,000 citations. His research portfolio encompasses wastewater-based epidemiology, micropollutant tracking of pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs, environmental chemistry, and urban water management systems. His foundational work in illicit drug monitoring through wastewater analysis helped establish standardized methodologies for multi-country collaborative studies across European cities, while his team has developed transportable high-resolution mass spectrometry platforms and sensor networks that provide real-time water quality insights. His methodological innovations have global applications in environmental health monitoring and continue to influence public health policies worldwide.

Resources Related to the Episode

  • The episode title is a play on the phrase: Sex, Drugs & Rock n’ Roll – which originated in the 1969. Read about the history of this phrase as a part of our human cultural history in a very interesting blog article
  • Some photos of our props – the slogan on my T-Shirt with the bicycle and our PhD Theses
The Bicycle T-Shirt
Our PhD Theses – mine (left) and Christoph’s (right)
A thickness comparison of our theses
  • Lena Mutzner was previously on the show in Episode 45 – check out her Episode to hear about her work
  • The department that Christoph studied at ETH Zurich is now called the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering
  • What are Benzotriazoles?
  • For a 101 on sampling, definitely check out Lena Mutzner’s episode, where we go deep into the topic of water quality monitoring
  • Christoph’s “Provocative” Paper: Ort, C., Lawrence, M.G., Rieckermann, J. and Joss, A., 2010. Sampling for pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and illicit drugs in wastewater systems: are your conclusions valid? A critical review. Environmental science & technology, 44(16), pp.6024-6035. [Link]
  • Wastewater-based epidemiology / surveillance & Sewer Sociology:
    • What are these fields about? [Eawag] [ScienceDirect]
    • A bit of history on this field: Kasprzyk-Hordern, B., Bijlsma, L., Castiglioni, S., Covaci, A., de Voogt, P., Emke, E., Hernandez, F., Ort, C., Reid, M., van Nuijs, A. and Thomas, K.V., 2014. Wastewater-based epidemiology–the concept and historical perspectives. Environmental Industry Magazine, 33, pp.145-151. [Link]
  • We refer to Ana Deletic, who has been on the show in Episode 9, you an check out her episode for related topics
  • What are liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry
  • Christoph’s papers on illicit drug detection in wastewater:
    • Ort, C., van Nuijs, A.L., Berset, J.D., Bijlsma, L., Castiglioni, S., Covaci, A., de Voogt, P., Emke, E., Fatta‐Kassinos, D., Griffiths, P. and Hernández, F., 2014. Spatial differences and temporal changes in illicit drug use in E urope quantified by wastewater analysis. Addiction, 109(8), pp.1338-1352. [Link]
    • Ort, C., Eppler, J.M., Scheidegger, A., Rieckermann, J., Kinzig, M. and Sörgel, F., 2014. Challenges of surveying wastewater drug loads of small populations and generalizable aspects on optimizing monitoring design. Addiction, 109(3), pp.472-481. [Link]
    • At a music festival: Lai, F.Y., Thai, P.K., O’Brien, J., Gartner, C., Bruno, R., Kele, B., Ort, C., Prichard, J., Kirkbride, P., Hall, W. and Carter, S., 2013. Using quantitative wastewater analysis to measure daily usage of conventional and emerging illicit drugs at an annual music festival. Drug and alcohol review, 32(6), pp.594-602. [Link]
    • A bit on the methods: Hernández, F., Castiglioni, S., Covaci, A., de Voogt, P., Emke, E., Kasprzyk‐Hordern, B., Ort, C., Reid, M., Sancho, J.V., Thomas, K.V. and van Nuijs, A.L., 2018. Mass spectrometric strategies for the investigation of biomarkers of illicit drug use in wastewater. Mass spectrometry reviews, 37(3), pp.258-280. [Link]
    • Thomas, K.V., Bijlsma, L., Castiglioni, S., Covaci, A., Emke, E., Grabic, R., Hernández, F., Karolak, S., Kasprzyk-Hordern, B., Lindberg, R.H. and de Alda, M.L., Meierjohann, A., Ort, C., Pico, Y., Quintana, J. B., Reid, M., Rieckermann, J., Terzic, S., van Nuijs, A. L. N., de Voogt, P. 2012. Comparing illicit drug use in 19 European cities through sewage analysis. Science of the total environment, 432, pp.432-439. [Link]
  • The COVID Pandemic:
  • The MS2Field system – also previously mentioned on Episode 10 with Daniele la Cecilia
  • What is the Opioid Crisis?
  • The epidemic law in Switzerland
    • The Federal Act on controlling communicable human diseases
    • Switzerland plans for improved pandemic protection [SwissInfo]
  • Some festivals in Switzerland
  • What is syndromic surveillance?
  • The BeeGees are in the Rock n Roll Hall of fame and so are the Beach Boys
  • Some German Idioms:
    • “Ein gefundenes Fressen” meaning “to play into someone’s hands”
    • “Stetter Tropfen höhlt den Stein” translated to “constant dripping wears away the stone”

Episode Chapters

(Chapters are embedded in the episode for quick access, click this to expand and view all chapters and time stamps)
  • 0:00 Intro
  • 1:59 Guest Intro and a discussion around two props
  • 8:37 Getting into Christoph’s story – culture engineering
  • 12:07 The PhD – Dynamics of sewers and micropollutants
  • 19:48 Introducing wastewater based epidemiology or surveillance
  • 21:21 Terminology around WWBE and sewer sociology
  • 23:44 Detecting illicit drugs in sewer systems
  • 26:57 Briefly – how to detect using analytical chemistry methods
  • 32:17 Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic
  • 39:30 The MS2Field – A mobile lab in a trailer
  • 41:30 His vision, the institutional context and where is Christoph heading
  • 45:25 The future of wastewater-based surveillance
  • 46:48 Syndromic surveillance – the indirect but powerful alternative
  • 51:26 Rock n’ Roll?
  • 56:08 Q&A Start
  • 56:25 What does innovation mean to you?
  • 58:56 Key event, person, book
  • 1:00:42 Time Management
  • 1:03:20 Favourite Childhood Memory
  • 1:04:33 Biggest challenge in career to date
  • 1:05:55 Advice for young researchers
  • 1:07:39 What would you most like to be remembered for?
  • 1:08:30 Where can people find you?
  • 1:09:19 Final Message
  • 1:09:38 Outro

Connect with Christoph Ort

Related Episodes

Episode #5 – Peter Vanrolleghem
Like wastewater for chocolate, control, serendipity and digital twins
(Related Topics: wastewater, monitoring, water quality, process dynamics)
Episode #9 – Ana Deletic
From first flush and manholes to pendulums of stormwater, engineering and life
(Related Topics: water quality, process dynamics, pollution, Australia)
Episode #10 – Daniele la Cecilia
Backyard balsamic vinegar, a pizza oven and technological progress in agriculture
(Related Topics: The MS2Field System, water quality, pollution)
Episode #45 – Lena Mutzner
“A list that keeps getting longer” – understanding pollutants of emerging concern for healthier aquatic environments
(Related Topics: water quality, micropollutants, sewer dynamics, bicycles )

Credits