Seasonal and diurnal surveillance of treated and untreated wastewater for human enteric viruses

Farkas, Kata; Marshall, Miles; Cooper, David; McDonald, James E.; Malham, Shelagh K.; Peters, Dafydd E.; Maloney, John D.; Jones, Davey L.. 2018 Seasonal and diurnal surveillance of treated and untreated wastewater for human enteric viruses. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 25 (33). 33391-33401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3261-y

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3261-y

Abstract/Summary

Understanding the abundance and fate of human viral pathogens in wastewater is essential when assessing the public health risks associated with wastewater discharge to the environment. Typically, however, the microbiological monitoring of wastewater is undertaken on an infrequent basis and peak discharge events may be missed leading to the misrepresentation of risk levels. To evaluate diurnal patterns in wastewater viral loading, we undertook 3-day sampling campaigns with bi-hourly sample collection over three seasons at three wastewater treatment plants. Untreated influent was collected at Ganol and secondary-treated effluent was sampled at Llanrwst and Betws-y-Coed (North Wales, UK). Our results confirmed the presence of human adenovirus (AdV), norovirus genotypes I and II (NoVGI and NoVGII) in both influent and effluent samples while sapovirus GI (SaVGI) was only detected in influent water. The AdV titre was high and relatively constant in all samples, whereas the NoVGI, NoVGII and SaVGI showed high concentrations during autumn and winter and low counts during the summer. Diurnal patterns were detected in pH and turbidity for some sampling periods; however, no such changes in viral titres were observed apart from slight fluctuations in the influent samples. Our findings suggest that viral particle number in wastewater is not affected by daily chemical fluctuations. Hence, a grab sample taken at any point during the day may be sufficient to enumerate the viral load of wastewater effluent within an order of magnitude while four samples a day are recommended for testing wastewater influent samples.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3261-y
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-) Unaffiliated
ISSN:	0944-1344
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	activated sludge, biofilter, sampling method, sewage treatment, water pollution, autosampler, virus quantification
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Health
Date made live:	29 Oct 2018 11:30 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521365

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3261-y

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-)
Unaffiliated

ISSN:

0944-1344

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

activated sludge, biofilter, sampling method, sewage treatment, water pollution, autosampler, virus quantification