Below-ground piped municipal sewage systems act as collectors of urban-associated microbial communities, including those from human and industrial waste and those washing off the urban landscape. Within these systems, the mixed microbial assemblages have seemingly coalesced into a common community structure that represents a sewage microbiome.
In this talk, Newton will share insights from projects investigating sewage microbial community properties. These insights will be discussed in the context of how sewage microorganisms offer opportunities to develop more accurate tracking of pollution in surface waters, whether sewage microorganisms influence processes from wastewater treatment to the spread of antimicrobial resistance, and how climate change intersects with this largely below-ground microbial ecosystem.