(Poster) Optimizing Spatial Distribution of Wastewater-Based Disease Surveillance to Advance Health Equity

Abstract

We propose an optimization framework that strategically allocates wastewater monitoring resources at the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) level, ensuring more effective and equitable distribution of surveillance efforts. The framework focuses on achieving a balanced spatial distribution, comprehensive population coverage, and efficient representation of disadvantaged groups in resource allocation for WBE. Furthermore, the framework concentrates on areas with high population density and prioritizes wastewater signals that exhibit distinctive differences from other monitored signals. The optimization objective involves maximizing a weighted combination of these crucial factors. This problem is formulated as an integer optimization problem and solved using simulated annealing. We evaluate various scenarios, considering different weighting factors, to optimize the allocation of WWTPs with monitoring systems.