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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1978 September; 36(3): 427-431
Copyright © 1978 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Viral Pollution of Surface Waters Due to Chlorinated Primary Effluents

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 9A9 Canada

ABSTRACT

The role of chlorinated primary effluents in viral pollution of the Ottawa River (Ontario) was assessed by examining 282 field samples of wastewaters from two different sewage treatment plants over a 2-year period. The talc-Celite technique was used for sample concentration, and BS-C-1 cells were employed for virus detection. Viruses were detected in 80% (75/94) of raw sewage, 72% (68/94) of primary effluent, and 56% (53/94) of chlorinated effluent samples. Both raw sewage and primary effluent samples contained about 100 viral infective units (VIU) per 100 ml. Chlorination produced a 10- to 50-fold reduction in VIU and gave nearly 2.7 VIU/100 ml of chlorinated primary effluent. With a combined daily chlorinated primary effluent output of approximately 3.7 x 10⁸ liters, these two plants were discharging 1.0 x 10¹⁰ VIU per day. Because the river has a mean annual flow of 8.0 x 10¹⁰ liters per day, these two sources alone produced a virus loading of 1.0 VIU/8 liters of the river water. This river also receives at least 9.0 x 10⁷ liters of raw sewage per day and undetermined but substantial amounts of storm waters and agricultural wastes. It is used for recreation and acts as a source of potable water for some 6.0 x 10⁵ people. In view of the potential of water for disease transmission, discharge of such wastes into the water environment needs to be minimized.