The Surprising Goldmine in Our Sewers

C:\Users\maxou\Documents\everyday-learning\src\content\images\poop - sewer\poop-goldmine.jpg Inspiration/Source: Podcast HIBT episode #489 interview with Mariana Matus and Newsha Ghaeli

Poop has stories to tell

It might not sound intuitive, but the facts are clear: our poop is an information goldmine.

So much so that companies like Biobot Analytics now specialize in studying what flows through our sewers.
Why? To uncover hidden trends in cities.

These insights can range from early signs of epidemic outbreaks to patterns of drug use.

And here’s the beauty of it: the analyses are anonymous.
These companies don’t zoom in on individuals. Rather, they paint a detailed picture at the scale of a borough, city, or even a region.

Take Rotterdam or London, for example. By analyzing wastewater, authorities could detect that a particular neighborhood struggles with high levels of drug addiction—long before the problem becomes visible on the streets.

The big advantage?
Such challenges can be spotted early, and tackled before they spiral out of control.