Pueblo could soon be testing your wastewater for drug use

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — The city of Pueblo could soon start tracking drug use through its wastewater. New technologies can track the use of cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine and even xylazine, also known as “Tranq.” Everything is done in the hope of combating substance use in The Steel City.

You may remember how COVID-19 was tracked through wastewater during the pandemic. Now similar tools can be used to track drug use.

After you flush the toilet, shower, or use the sink in the City of Pueblo, your wastewater is taken to the James Dilorio Water Reclamation Facility. Inside the system, it flows down a ladder-like device called an inflow to filter out any debris. The facility takes a sample there.

“Once it’s set up, we typically receive those samples back to the lab. The results will be tested and reported as soon as the data is available,” said Kait Hess Jimenez, a chemist at Biobot Analytics, the company that tests for the drugs.

Jimenez says the data these samples produce is specific to the community, in this case it would be Pueblo.

The Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment (PDPHE) determined that substance use is one of the community’s greatest health concerns. They say data from wastewater testing is being used to address the problem. The data would also be published for public review on the PDPHE website.

For a small town in North Carolina, it worked.

“So essentially it’s this town in North Carolina, which is Cary, North Carolina. They did wastewater testing throughout their community,” Hess Jimenez explained. “They assumed that their overdoses were related to things like fentanyl and heroin. But they actually got data showing that their overdoses were related to prescription drug cases, things like oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, things like that.”

The chemist explained how Cary, NC began implementing local community programs such as pill take-back programs to remove these drugs from people’s homes.

“They saw about a 40% decrease in overdoses in their community,” Hess Jimenez said.

If this type of testing is used here, it won’t cost the people of Pueblo a dime. The program is funded by a state grant.

The program is currently in limbo, awaiting a vote by the Pueblo City Council.

The ordinance is scheduled to be voted on by the City Council on Monday, December 9, 2024.