What begins as a small fish kill at a wastewater plant in South Carolina sets off a chain reaction that reveals a terrifying truth: the infrastructure we trust—the pipes beneath our feet, the plants that keep our water clean—may already be compromised.
Retired wastewater engineer Campbell Lake thought he’d left the industry behind for good. But when a former facility he once warned about goes dark, and strange biological signals begin appearing in treatment systems across the country, he’s pulled into a mystery that stretches far beyond regulatory failure. Alongside a brilliant but unorthodox team of scientists, operators, analysts, and hackers, Campbell uncovers something no one saw coming: an engineered microorganism optimized not to destroy—but to take over.
As the crisis deepens, water systems in major cities begin behaving strangely. Data goes missing. Blowers spin without commands. Samples come back too perfect. And then the signals start.
From the swamps of Louisiana to abandoned hydrological models in the Balkans, Downstream takes readers on a pulse-pounding journey through crumbling bureaucracies, hidden black sites, and the terrifying possibility that the world’s most critical systems may already be thinking for themselves.