Sewage epidemiology is a cost-effective, comprehensive, and non-invasive technique capable of determining semi-real-time community usage of drugs utilizing the concentration of drug residues in wastewater, wastewater inflow, and the population size served by a wastewater treatment plant. In this study, semi-real-time consumption rates of ten illicit drugs were determined using sewage epidemiology during special events including Independence Day, the 2017 solar eclipse, and the first week of an academic semester in the Midwestern United States. The average per-capita consumption rate of amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, and THC were significantly different between two similar-sized communities during Independence Day observation week (p < 0.046) and a typical week (p < 0.001). Compared to a typical day, the consumption rate of amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, morphine, and methadone was significantly higher on Independence Day (p < 0.021) and during solar eclipse observation (p = 0.020). The estimated percentage of the population that consumed cocaine in a community is similar to the conventionally estimated consumption of cocaine; however, the combined estimated population that consumed amphetamine and methamphetamine based on sewage epidemiology was ~2 to 4 fold higher than the conventional estimates. This study is the first to compare community use of drugs during special events in the USA using sewage epidemiology.

污水流行病学是一种经济高效、全面、非侵入性的技术，能够利用废水中药物残留浓度、废水流入量以及废水处理厂服务的人口规模来确定半实时社区药物使用情况。在这项研究中，利用污水流行病学方法确定了美国中西部独立日、2017 年日食和学期第一周等特殊活动期间 10 种非法药物的半实时消费率。在独立日观察周 ( p < 0.046) 和典型周 ( p < 0.001) 期间，两个规模相似的社区的苯丙胺、甲基苯丙胺、可卡因和 THC 的人均消费率存在显着差异。与典型一天相比，独立日 ( p < 0.021) 和日食观测期间 ( p = 0.020) 的苯丙胺、甲基苯丙胺、可卡因、吗啡和美沙酮的消耗率显着较高。社区中消费可卡因的人口估计百分比与传统估计的可卡因消费量相似；然而，根据污水流行病学估计，消耗苯丙胺和甲基苯丙胺的总人口比传统估计高出约 2 至 4 倍。这项研究首次利用污水流行病学来比较美国特殊活动期间社区药物的使用情况。