Assessment of human adenovirus removal in a full-scale membrane bioreactor treating municipal wastewater.
Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) in wastewater samples taken from four different treatment stages of a full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plant (i.e., incoming raw sewage, primary sedimentation effluent, membrane bioreactor (MBR) influent, and MBR effluent) were quantified by real-time PCR assays to further estimate removal efficiency of the HAdVs. Based on hexon gene sequence comparisons, HAdV species A, C, and F were consistently found in the wastewater samples. In general, all three identified HAdV species were detected in most of the wastewater samples using the real-time PCR assays. Overall HAdV concentrations were rather stable over the entire 8-month study period (January-August, 2008) (approximately 10(6)-10(7)viral particles/L of wastewater for the raw sewage and primary effluent; 10(8)-10(9)viral particles/L for the MBR influent; and, 10(3)-10(4)viral particles/L for the MBR effluent). No significant seasonal differences were noticed for the HAdV abundances. Removal efficiencies of the viral particles in the full-scale MBR process were assessed and showed an average HAdV removal of 5.0+/-0.6logs over the study period. The removal efficiencies for F species (average log removal of 6.5+/-1.3logs) were typically higher (p-value <0.05) than those of the other two species (average of 4.1+/-0.9 and 4.6+/-0.5logs for species A and C, respectively). These results demonstrate that the full-scale MBR system efficiently removed most HAdV from the wastewater leaving about 10(3)viral particles/L in the MBR effluent.
Kuo
David H-W
DH
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Simmons
Fredrick J
FJ
Blair
Scott
S
Hart
Elizabeth
E
Rose
Joan B
JB
Xagoraraki
Irene
I
D000260:Adenoviruses, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000821:virology*; D002947:Cities; D006801:Humans; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010802:Phylogeny; D012722:Sewage / Q000821:virology; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation*
D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012722:Sewage