Many wastewater treatment technologies have been shown to remove bacterial pathogens more effectively than viral pathogens and, in aquatic environments, levels of traditional faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) do not appear to correlate consistently with levels of human viral pathogens. There is, therefore, a need for novel viral indicators of faecal pollution and surrogates of viral pathogens, especially given the increasing importance of indirect and direct wastewater reuse. Potential candidates include bacteriophages (phages) and the study described here sought to elucidate the relationship between three groups of phages (somatic coliphages (SOMPH), F RNA coliphages (F RNAPH) and human-specific phages infecting B. fragilis (Bf124 PH) – enumeration using double layer agar technique) and viral pathogens (human adenovirus (HuAdV) and norovirus (NoV) – enumeration using molecular methods) through full-scale municipal wastewater treatment processes. FIB (faecal coliforms (FC) and intestinal enterococci (ENT) – enumeration using membrane filtration) were also monitored. Samples were collected every fortnight, during a twelve-month period, at each stage of four full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in southern England (two activated sludge (AS) and two trickling filter (TF) plants) (n = 360 samples). FIB and SOMPH were consistently found in all samples tested, whereas F RNAPH, Bf124 PH and HuAdV were less frequently detected, especially following AS treatment. The detection rate of NoV was low and consequently discussion of this group of viruses is limited. Concentrations of SOMPH and FIB were statistically higher (p value < 0.05) than concentrations of F RNAPH, Bf124 PH and HuAdV in raw wastewater. FIB were more effectively removed than phages in both systems. Removal rates of HuAdV were similar to those of phages at the secondary treatment stage of both systems. In TF systems, HuAdV were removed at the same rate as F-RNAPH, but at lower rates than SOMPH and Bf124 PH. The findings suggest that phages (in particular SOMPH) are better indicators of the fate of viral pathogens in WWTP than existing FIB and that these organisms may have a useful role to play in future sanitation safety planning.

已显示许多废水处理技术比病毒病原体能更有效地去除细菌病原体，并且在水生环境中，传统粪便指示菌（FIB）的水平似乎与人类病毒病原体的水平不一致。因此，特别是考虑到间接和直接废水再利用的重要性日益提高，就需要一种新颖的粪便污染和病毒病原体替代指标的病毒指示剂。潜在的候选物包括噬菌体（噬菌体），此处描述的研究试图阐明三类噬菌体（体性噬菌体（SOMPH），F RNA噬菌体（F RNAPH）和感染脆弱型博德特氏菌的人特异性噬菌体之间的关系。（Bf124 PH）–使用双层琼脂技术进行枚举）和病毒性病原体（人腺病毒（HuAdV）和诺如病毒（NoV）–使用分子方法进行枚举）通过大规模的市政废水处理过程进行。还监测了FIB（粪大肠菌群（FC）和肠球菌（ENT）–使用膜过滤法计数）。在英格兰南部的四个大型废水处理厂（WWTP）（两个活性污泥（AS）和两个滴滤池（TF）厂）的每个阶段，在十二个月的时间内，每两周收集一次样品（n = 360样本）。在所有测试样品中始终发现FIB和SOMPH，而检测到F RNAPH，Bf124 PH和HuAdV的频率较低，尤其是在AS治疗后。NoV的检测率很低，因此对这组病毒的讨论受到限制。原始废水中SOMPH和FIB的浓度在统计学上高于F RNAPH，Bf124 PH和HuAdV的浓度（p值<0.05）。在两个系统中，FIB均比噬菌体更有效地被去除。在两个系统的二级治疗阶段，HuAdV的去除率与噬菌体的去除率相似。在TF系统中，HuAdV的去除速率与F-RNAPH相同，但去除率低于SOMPH和Bf124 PH。研究结果表明，与现有的FIB相比，噬菌体（特别是SOMPH）是污水处理厂中病毒病原体命运的更好指标，这些生物可能在未来的卫生安全规划中发挥有用的作用。在两个系统的二级治疗阶段，HuAdV的去除率与噬菌体的去除率相似。在TF系统中，HuAdV的去除速率与F-RNAPH相同，但去除率低于SOMPH和Bf124 PH。研究结果表明，与现有的FIB相比，噬菌体（特别是SOMPH）是污水处理厂中病毒病原体命运的更好指标，这些生物可能在未来的卫生安全规划中发挥有用的作用。在两个系统的二级治疗阶段，HuAdV的去除率与噬菌体的去除率相似。在TF系统中，HuAdV的去除速率与F-RNAPH相同，但去除率低于SOMPH和Bf124 PH。研究结果表明，与现有的FIB相比，噬菌体（特别是SOMPH）是污水处理厂中病毒病原体命运的更好指标，这些生物可能在未来的卫生安全规划中发挥有用的作用。