Davies C M, Yousefi Z, Bavor H J
Water Research Laboratory, Centre for Water and Environmental Technology, University of Western Sydney, Richmond, NSW, Australia.
Lett Appl Microbiol. 2003;37(4):299-303. doi: 10.1046/j.1472-765x.2003.01396.x.
To investigate the occurrence of coliphages in, and their removal from, urban stormwater.
Inflow and outflow concentrations of somatic and f-specific RNA coliphages to two stormwater treatment systems were determined on 21 occasions over a period of 5 months. Somatic coliphages were detected in 19 (90%) of the constructed wetland inlet samples, 13 (62%) of the pond inlet samples, and less frequently at the outlets of the two systems. F-specific RNA coliphages were detected at the inlets but only occasionally at the pond outlet. Somatic coliphages were found to attach preferentially to particles <5 microm in size and persisted in the sediments of the two systems.
Treatment systems providing conditions that are conducive to the settlement of fine particles may effectively remove sediment-bound coliphages and, therefore, possibly enteric viruses from stormwater.
The results will aid the design of systems for effective removal of viral contaminants from urban stormwater.
