Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) is an area of science that has gained a lot of traction in recent years and been at the forefront of monitoring the pandemic. This work focuses specifically on the Severe Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and how we can used more unexplored methods in WBE, to detect and quantify viral loads, specifically passive sampling. This thesis is comprised of a literature review, giving an overview into SARS-CoV-2, the current applications of wastewater-based epidemiology and the knowledge gaps within this field. Passive sampling is the use of different materials which adsorb viruses and water for their concentration and subsequent elution. There are two data chapters both focusing on the use of passive sampling for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. The first chapter compared two extraction methods (manual and automated systems), three different sampling materials (cotton-based swab, ion exchange paper and tampon) and seven different concentration processes (direct extraction, squeeze, phosphate buffered solution (PBS) elution into polyethylene glycol (PEG), PBS elution into ammonium sulfate, beef extract elution into PEG, beef extract into ammonium sulfate, no-elution into PEG). It also explored the relationship between passive sampling and grab sampling. A manual extraction showed higher RNA recoveries and fewer results below the detection limit. We found that cotton tampons recovered the highest amounts of RNA in comparison to an electronegative membrane and cotton swabs. The highest viral load and human faecal indicator bacteriophage (crAssphage) were recovered with the no-elution PEG precipitation method. We found that passive sampling has a lower variability over time compared to wastewater grab samples. These results demonstrated that passive sampling is a low-cost, effective alternative to traditional liquid-based WBE to monitor low level viral loads in wastewater. The second data chapter investigated the use of passive sampling further for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and other enteric viruses from wastewater (Influenza A and B (Flu-A & B), SARS-CoV-2, human adenovirus (AdV), norovirus GII (NoVGII), measles virus (MeV), pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), the faecal marker crAssphage and the process control virus Pseudomonas virus (phi6). This chapter compared the four highest viral recovery methods from the previous chapter; we found that the preferred viral recovery method from the tampon passive samplers was the no-elution/PEG precipitation method. We also compared three different tampon types and found that there were no significant differences between type and viral recovery. Furthermore, we demonstrated that non-enveloped viruses had higher percent recoveries from the passive samplers than enveloped viruses. This was the first study of its kind to assess passive sampler and viral recovery methods amongst a plethora of viruses commonly found in wastewater or used as a viral surrogate in wastewater studies. Overall, this thesis evidenced that tampons are the most suitable passive sampler material for the recovery of SARS-CoV-2, with different methods being preferential when detecting different viruses. Yet for all viral types, PEG based methods consistently recover the highest viral quantities. There are options to extend passive sampling further for the quantification of different pathogens such as bacteria, as well as options to extend these methods to other waterway systems.