COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE KINETICS OF MS2 BACTERIOPHAGE AND COXSACKIEVIRUS B5 INACTIVATION WITH MONOCHLORAMINE

摘要

Many U.S. drinking water utilities currently utilize combined chlorine (monochloramine) for primary and/or secondary disinfection. The EPA's Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule will likely drive more utilities to switch to using combined chlorine to minimize the formation of toxic disinfection byproducts associated with free chlorine, currently the disinfectant most commonly used in the U.S. The effectiveness of combined chlorine disinfection on viruses has not been fully characterized and water utilities are not able to fully elucidate the effect of their treatment processes on viruses. In this study, the effect of monochloramine disinfection on two ssRNA viruses, MS2 bacteriophage and Coxsackievirus B5, is being investigated. The goal of this study is to determine the effects of disinfectant concentration, pH and temperature on viral inactivation. Results will be used to assess the adequacy of MS2 as a surrogate for enteroviruses such as Coxsackievirus.