TECHNICAL PAPERS
Apr 1, 1983

Confirmed Viruses Versus Unconfirmed Plaques in Sewage

Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 109, Issue 2

Abstract

Ninety‐two treated and untreated sewage samples from seven wastewater treatment plants In Chicago, Illinois, Memphis, Tennessee, and Cincinnati, Ohio were examined for their virus content. Concentrated and unconcentrated samples were plaque assayed in five different cell culture systems. The virus etiology of plaques was confirmed by passage in homologous cell fluid cultures. Including all plaques tested, only 16.5 percent were confirmed as of viral origin. BGM cultures produced the greatest number of unconhrmable plaques. Confirmed virus concentrations for individual samples ranged from less than 0.2 to 80 PFU/1. Confirmed PFU's/1 averaged 0.7 for raw sewage, 0.5 for preliminary effluents and were not detected in final effluents. A strong recommendation of this study is that the virus etiology of all environmentally derived plaques must be confirmed.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

References

1.
Akin, E. W., and Jakubowski, W., “Viruses in Finished Water: The Occoquan Experience,” Proceedings of the American Water Works Association Conference, San Diego, Calif., 1976, pp. 1–10.
2.
Berg, G., Dahling, D. R., Brown, G. A., and Berman, D., “Validity of Fecal Coliforms, Total Coliforms, and Fecal Streptocci as Indicators of Viruses in Chlorinated Primary Sewage Effluents,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 36, 1978, pp. 880–884.
3.
Bertucci, J. J., Abid, S. H., Lue‐Hing, C., Clark, C. S., Fenters, J. D., and Fannin, K. F., “Relationship Between Confirmed Virus Plaques and Unconfirmed Plaques Isolated from Sewage,” Research and Development Report No. 79‐18, Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago, Chicago, Ill., Oct., 1979.
4.
Bertucci, J. J., and Patterson, J. W., “Development of an Aluminum Hydroxide‐Continuous Flow Centrifuge Technique for Detecting Viruses in Water,” Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Las Vegas, Nev., 1978, p. 199.
5.
Buras, N., “Concentration of Enteric Viruses in Wastewater and Effluent: A Two‐Year Survey,” Water Research, Vol. 10, 1976, pp. 295–298.
6.
Buras, N., “Recovery of Viruses from Wastewater and Effluent by the Direct Inoculation Method,” Water Research, Vol. 8, 1974, pp. 165–171.
7.
Fannin, K. F., Abid, S. H., Bertucci, J. J., Reed, J. M., Vanna, S. C., and Lue‐Hing, C., “Significance of Reporting Infectious Viral or Plaque Forming Unit Concentrations from Environmental Samples,” Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Las Vegas, Nev., 1978, p. 200.
8.
Fattal, B., and Nishmi, M., “Enterovirus Types in Israel Sewage,” Water Research, Vol. 11, 1977, pp. 393–396.
9.
Kedmi, S., and Fattal, B., “Evaluation of the False‐Positive Enteroviral Plaque Phenomenon Occuring in Sewage Samples,” Water Research, Vol. 15, 1981, pp. 73–74.
10.
Kott, Y., Rose, N., Sperber, S., and Betzer, W., “Bacteriophages as Viral Pollution Indicators,” Water Research, Vol. 8, 1974, pp. 165–171.
11.
Lau, L. S., “Water Recycling of Sewage Effluent by Irrigation: A Field Study on Oahu,” Technology Report 94, Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1975.
12.
Leong, L. Y. C., Barrett, S. J., and Trussell, R., R., “False Positives in Testing of Secondary Sewage for Enteric Viruses,” Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Las Vegas, Nev., 1978, p. 200.
13.
Mack, W. N., Frey, J. R., Riegle, B. J., and Mallmann, W. L., “Enterovirus Removal by Activated Sludge Treatment,” Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, Vol. 34, 1962, pp. 1133–1139.
14.
Rao, V. C., Chandorkar, U., Rao, N. U., Kunaran, P., and Lakhe, S. B., “A Simple Method for Concentrating and Detecting Viruses in Wastewater,” Water Research, Vol. 6, 1972, pp. 1565–1576.
15.
Rao, V. C., Lakhe, S. B., Waghmare, S. U., and Dube, P., “Virus Removal in Activated Sludge Treatment,” Progress in Water Technology, Vol. 9, 1977, pp. 113–127.
16.
Schmidt, N. J., Ho, H. H., Riggs, J. G., and Lennette, E. H., “Comparative Sensitivity of Various Cell Culture Systems for Isolation of Viruses from Wastewater and Fecal Samples,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 36, 1978, pp. 480–486.
17.
Shuval, H. I., Fattal, B., Cymabalista, S., and Goldblum, N., “The Phase Separation Method for the Concentration and Dectection of Viruses in Water,” Water Research, Vol. 3, 1969, pp. 225–240.
18.
Wallis, C., Melnick, J. L., Bianchi, M., “Factors Influencing Enterovirus and Reovirus Growth and Plaque Formation,” Texas Report of Biology and Medicine, Vol. 20, 1962, pp. 693–702.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Environmental Engineering
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 109Issue 2April 1983
Pages: 351 - 368

History

Published online: Apr 1, 1983
Published in print: Apr 1983

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

James J. Bertucci
Virologist II, Research and Development Dept., Metropolitan Sanitary Dist. of Greater Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Syed H. Abid
Virologist I, Research and Development Dept., Metropolitan Sanitary Dist. of Greater Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Cecil Lue‐Hing
Dir. of Research and Development Dept., Metropolitan Sanitary Dist. of Greater Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
C. Scott Clark
Assoc. Prof., Environmental Health, Univ. of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Oh.
James D. Fenters
Dir., Microbiology Dept., IIT Research Inst., Chicago, Ill.
Kerby F. Fannin
Mgr., Microbiological and Environmental Research Dept., Inst., of Gas Tech., Chicago, Ill.

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Download citation

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

Cited by

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share