Viral Disinfection of Estuarine Water by UV

Experiments were conducted with viruses artificially introduced into seawater under both static and continuously flowing conditions. Under static conditions, the devitalization of each virus was compared against poliovirus 1. The findings indicated that poliovirus 1, 2, 3, echoviruses 1 and 11, and coxsackievirus A-9 exhibited similar devitalization characteristics. Conversely, coxsackievirus B-1 and reovirus 1 exhibited dissimilar devitalization characteristics from poliovirus 1. The infectivity loss of all viruses examined was 99% or greater after 30 sec of UV exposure. Under continuously flowing conditions, the devitalization of poliovirus 1 was dissimilar from that of the same virus under static conditions. The infectivity loss of poliovirus 1 exceeded 99.9% after 15.7 sec of UV exposure in the continuously flowing seawater. Based on the findings, the expected virus percent-reduction-times under static conditions would be considerably reduced under continuously flowing conditions. UV can be highly effective in disinfecting flowing seawater for use in artificial shellfish purification systems.