Virus Removal in Sewage Treatment

Experimental activated sludge and trickling filter treatment system showed that virus can be removed effectively when heavy flock loading is maintained in the activated sludge unit. The trickling filter did not perform as well. Water reclamation from sewage for reuse can be developed with greater confidence when more is known concerning the virus removal mechanism. Reliability of designed treatment processes can be obtained by building facilities and testing their performance and observing details of operation. To accomplish these objectives, a 14,000 gal-per-day system, operating on domestic sewage, was used. To make certain that virus were present during the tests, the influent was heavily inoculated with coxsackie A-13. Test animals for observing the presence of virus were mice. Reclaimed waste water in arid regions may become a part of the water supply spectrum. During the first developmental steps, it will be possible to evaluate further the virus removal on a large scale before direct reuse in water supply is considered.