Poliovirus Type I Adsorption to Crushed Ottawa Sand at High Titres

摘要

This thesis investigates the removal capacity of crushed Ottawa sand for poliovirus type I (Sabin strain). The need for this study arises from the possible survival and transmission of enteric viruses from reclaimed water through soil beds which may contaminate the groundwater supply. Sand was studied because it is a very common soil constituent. Characterization of the sand was achieved by photomicroscopy using a truncated multiple traversing technique. The particle size distribution fitted a normal distribution with an average Feret's diameter of 122.9 microns. The removal of poliovirus by the sand conformed to a Langmuir isotherm. Of which, the parameters were found to be Q=2.74E+08 virus sites per mg of adsorbent and an adsorption equilibrium constant of 1.51E-08. The percentage of surface area utilized for virus adsorption was calculated to be 1.35% from the parameters found. This low percentage is believed to be because virus attachment is along the edge surfaces.