Applicability of quantitative PCR for determination of removal efficacy of enteric viruses and Cryptosporidium by water treatment processes

This study aims to assess the applicability of quantitative PCR (qPCR) for removal studies of adenovirus, coxsackievirus, echovirus and Cryptosporidium by water treatment processes. Bench-scale coagulation jar tests were performed using the enteric viruses and Cryptosporidium. Standard methods (conventional cell-culture methods for the viruses and an immunofluorescence assay (IFA) for Cryptosporidium) were used to compare to qPCR. A significant correlation between microbial removals determined by qPCR and the standard detection methods and an approximate 1:1 correlation were observed for the challenge microorganisms. The results indicated that qPCR could be a satisfactory alternate for microbial removal studies using a relative quantification approach.