Virus removal vs. subsurface water velocity during slow sand filtration

In an attempt to obtain a conservative estimate of virus removal during slow sand and river bank filtration, a somatic phage was isolated with slow decay and poor adsorption to coarse sand. We continuously fed a phage suspension to a 7-m infiltration path and measured the phage removal. In a second set of experiments, we fed the phage suspension to 1-m long columns run at different pore water velocities. Using the data obtained, a mathematical model was constructed describing removal vs. pore water velocity (PWV), assuming different statistical distributions of the adsorption coefficient λ . The bimodal distribution best fit the results for PWVs higher than 1 m/d. It predicted a removal of approximately 4 log10 after 50 days infiltration at 1 m/d. At PWVs below 1 m/d the model underestimated removal. Sand-bound phages dissociated slowly into the liquid phase, with a detachment constant k det of 2.6 × 10−5. This low k det suggests that river bank filtration plants should be intermittently operated when viral overload is suspected, e.g. during flooding events or at high water-marks in rivers, in order for viruses to become soil-associated during the periods of standstill. Resuming filtration will allow only a very slow virus release from the soil.