Oklahoma COVID wastewater testing shows increase in disease presence COVID wastewater testing in Tulsa and last updated 2021-04-06 12:46:05-04 TULSA, Okla. â Murky, smelly wastewater is what Oklahoma researchers are using to test for COVID. A team is taking the unique approach at the University of Oklahoma. Wastewater testing allows the OU team to gather COVID data one week earlier than human testing. âWe excrete COVID through going to the toilet. So, itâs discharged into the toilet and then itâs found in the sewage system," said Halley Reeves, vice president of Community Health Impact for OU Medicine. "Our teams will go out to manholes or wastewater treatment facilities and extract the sample."