Virus Removal from Real Wastewater as an Environmental Management Approach

Abstract

The increased presence of resistant microorganisms in water promotes the need for supplementary measures to mitigate the water source’s contamination. Traditional treatments are inefficient in wastewater management at removing some emerging contaminants. Corbicula fluminea, an invasive species, can be used in the treatment due to their resistance and biofiltration capacity, working as a pest management strategy. In this study, this bivalve was used to promote the virus disinfection from the municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWTP) that enters (influent) and after the secondary treatment (effluent leaving the plant). JC virus, norovirus (GI, GII), and hepatitis A (HAV) were identified. C. fluminea promoted norovirus GI and GII removal after 72 h and a slight decrease in the JC virus concentration. These results prove the potential of this pest management approach to be used in virus removal. Furthermore, infectivity assays using mengovirus confirmed the correlation between the presence of the genome detected by PCR and the infectious virus particles. This highlights the potential of PCR as a reliable indicator of the infectious virus’s presence. However, such an infectivity assay proved that even when PCR results are undetectable, a reduced number of viruses may remain viable and able to infect susceptible cells in culture.