Issue 6, 2023

Selective elimination of enterovirus genotypes by activated sludge and chlorination

Abstract

Enteroviruses, which are commonly circulating viruses shed in the stool, are released into the sewage system and only partially removed or inactivated, resulting in the discharge of infectious enteroviruses into the environment. Activated sludge and chlorination remove or inactivate enterovirus genotypes to different extents, and thus have the potential to shape the population that will be discharged. The goal of this study was to evaluate how activated sludge and chlorination treatment shape an enterovirus population at the genotype level, using a population of eight genotypes commonly found in sewage: CVA9, CVB1, CVB2, CVB3, CVB4, CVB5, E25, E30. Our results show that the extent of inactivation varied among genotypes, but also across sludge samples. We find that the effluent of activated sludge systems will be depleted in CVA9, CVB1 and CVB2 while E25 together with CVB3, CVB4 and CVB5 will be prevalent. Furthermore, we found that microbial inactivation was the main mechanism of infectivity loss in the activated sludge, while adsorption to the sludge flocs was not significant. During effluent chlorination, we also observed that CVB5, CVB3 and to a lesser extent E25 were less susceptible to chlorination while E30 was readily inactivated, and activated sludge-derived EPS provided further protection against chlorination. This study contributes to a better understanding of the variability of sewage treatment efficacy against different enteroviruses.

Graphical abstract: Selective elimination of enterovirus genotypes by activated sludge and chlorination

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Jan 2023
Accepted
25 Apr 2023
First published
11 May 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 1620-1633

Selective elimination of enterovirus genotypes by activated sludge and chlorination

O. Larivé, S. Torii, N. Derlon and T. Kohn, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023, 9, 1620 DOI: 10.1039/D3EW00050H

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