Transport of coliphage PRD1 in a surface flow constructed wetland

• Published in: Water environment research Vol. 78; no. 11; pp. 2253 - 2260
• Main Authors: Vidales-Contreras, J.A, Gerba, C.P, Karpiscak, M.M, Acuna-Askar, K, Chaidez-Quiroz, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Alexandria, VA Water Environment Federation 01-10-2006; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Artificial wetlands; Bacteriophage PRD1 - isolation & purification; Bacteriophage PRD1 - metabolism; bacteriophages; Bromides; coliphage; Constructed wetlands; Continental surface waters; convection-dispersion equation; Effluents; Environmental Monitoring - methods; equations; Exact sciences and technology; General purification processes; Hydraulics; mathematical models; Modeling; Models, Theoretical; Natural water pollution; Overland flow; Parametric models; Pollution; PRD1; Research Papers; simulation models; Simulations; Transportation; virus; Viruses; Waste Disposal, Fluid - methods; Wastewater; wastewater treatment; Wastewaters; water flow; Water Microbiology; Water Movements; Water Purification - methods; Water treatment; Water treatment and pollution; Wetlands; Arizona; Moment method; Longitudinal dispersion; Coliphage; Modeling; Convection; Waste water; Biological purification; Virus; Transport process; First order equation; Loading; Artificial medium; Surface water; Analytical method; Waste water purification; Wetland; Phage; Surface flow; Tracers
• ISSN: 1061-4303; 1554-7531
• DOI: 10.2175/106143006X111934

A tracer study was conducted in a 3-ha surface flow constructed wetland to analyze transport performance of PRD1, an enteric virus model. The convection-dispersion equation (CDE), including a first-order reaction model, adequately simulated transport performance of PRD1 in the wetland under an average hydraulic loading rate of 82 mm/d. Convective velocity (v) and longitudinal dispersion coefficient (D) were estimated by modeling a conservative tracer (bromide) pulse through the wetland. Both PRD1 and bromide were simultaneously added to the entering secondary treated wastewater effluent. The mass of bromide and PRD1 recovered was 76 and 16%, respectively. The PRD1 decay rate was calculated to be 0.3/day. The findings of this study suggest that the CDE model and analytical moment equations represent a suitable option to characterize virus transport performance in surface flow constructed wetlands.