The European Union (EU) launched the project "EU - Wastewater Integrated Surveillance in Health" (EU-WISH) in December, which aims to establish pathogen detection in wastewater across all participating EU member states and standardize the approach. A consortium of 62 institutions from 26 member states has been formed to support national wastewater surveillance, exchange expert knowledge, and develop recommendations for action.

Germany is represented by the RKI and UBA. The RKI participates primarily with epidemiological and data science expertise in developing wastewater surveillance strategies for public health and creating recommendations for the statistical analysis of wastewater data. Additionally, the RKI leads the project evaluation. The UBA participates in establishing and harmonizing technical procedures for wastewater surveillance, particularly regarding the assessment and evaluation of current technical procedures for sample collection and laboratory procedures for detecting (quantifying) pathogens. This includes defining strategic sampling locations, sampling methods, frequency, transport of samples, and analytical detection using laboratory procedures to achieve a harmonized approach to wastewater monitoring within the EU.