Removal of human pathogenic viruses in a down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor treating municipal wastewater and health risks associated with utilization of the effluent for agricultural irrigation
DHS reactor reduction efficiencies were examined for 10 types of pathogenic viruses. The first application of MFqPCR to quantify pathogenic viruses in wastewater samples. Log10 reduction values for viruses from the DHS reactor ranged from 1.4 to 3.7. An additional >2.6 log10 reduction for norovirus GII is required for effluent reuse. The first dataset on virus reduction credit of a DHS reactor is now available.