This objective of this study was to explore the practicality of monitoring naturally occurring organisms to predict drinking water treatment plant performance, in this case for the reduction of Cryptosporidium. Surface and ground water from seven drinking water treatment plants across North America that use chlorine dioxide were surveyed for aerobic and anaerobic bacterial spore concentrations. The concentrations of total spores were usually high enough in both raw and treated water to allow 4- to 5-log reductions to be observed across the treatment train by filtering up to 2 l of sample. These results suggested that naturally occurring treatment-resistant spores could be candidates as indicators of treatment performance. However, to be useful as indicators for Cryptosporidium reduction, the organisms would have to exhibit similar resistances to disinfection (chlorine dioxide in this case) in order to be useful. The inactivation kinetics of seven of the most common species were determined, and all were observed to be considerably more susceptible to chlorine dioxide inactivation than Cryptosporidium as reported in the literature. This study therefore did not identify an appropriate ambient microbial indicator for Cryptosporidium control.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
June 01 2003
Indigenous bacterial spores as indicators of Cryptosporidium inactivation using chlorine dioxide
Sophie Verhille;
Sophie Verhille
1Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, 35 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A4
Search for other works by this author on:
Ron Hofmann;
Ron Hofmann
1Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, 35 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A4
Search for other works by this author on:
Christian Chauret;
2Biological and Physical Sciences Unit, Indiana University Kokomo, 2300 South Washington Street, Kokomo, IN 46904-9003, USA
Tel: +1 (765) 455-9290 Fax: +1 (765) 455-9310; E-mail: [email protected]
Search for other works by this author on:
Robert Andrews
Robert Andrews
1Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, 35 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A4
Search for other works by this author on:
J Water Health (2003) 1 (2): 91–100.
Citation
Sophie Verhille, Ron Hofmann, Christian Chauret, Robert Andrews; Indigenous bacterial spores as indicators of Cryptosporidium inactivation using chlorine dioxide. J Water Health 1 June 2003; 1 (2): 91–100. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2003.0011
Download citation file: