Evaluation of the infectivity,gene and antigenicity persistence of rotaviruses by free chlorine disinfection

The effects of free chlorine disinfection of tap water and wastewater effluents on the infectivity, gene integrity and surface antigens of rotaviruses were evaluated by a bench-scale chlorine disinfection experiments. Plaque assays, integrated cell culture-quantitative RT- PCR （ICC-RT-qPCR）, RT-qPCR, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays （ELISA）, respectively, were used to assess the influence of the disinfectant on virus infectivity as well as genetic and antigenic integrity of simian rotavirus SA11 as a surrogate for human rotaviruses. The ICC-RT-qPCR was able to detect rotaviruses survival from chlorine disinfection at chlorine dose up to 20 mg/L （60 min contact）, which suggested a required chlorine dose of 5 folds （from 1 to 5 mg/L） higher than that indicated by the plaque assay to achieve 1.8 log10 reductions in tap water with 60 rain exposing. The VP7 gene was more resistant than the infectivity and existed at chlorine dose up to 20 mg/L （60 min contact）, while the antigencity was undetectable with chlorine dose more than 5 mg/L （60 min contact）. The water quality also impacted the inactivation efficiencies, and rotaviruses have a relatively higher resistant in secondary effluents than in the tap water under the same chlorine disinfection treatments. This study indicated that rotaviruses have a higher infectivity, gene and antigencity resistance to chlorine than that previously indicated by plaque assay only, which seemed to underestimate the resistance of rotaviruses to chlorine and the risk of rotaviruses in environments. Present results also suggested that re-evaluation of resistance of other waterborne viruses after disinfections by more sensitive infectivity detection method （such as ICC-RT-qPCR） may be necessary, to determine the adequate disinfectant doses required for the inactivation of waterborne viruses.

A balancing act: Optimizing free chlorine contact time to minimize iodo-DBPs, NDMA, and regulated DBPs in chloraminated drinking water

Many drinking water treatment plants in the U.S. have switched from chlorination to chloramination to lower levels of regulated trihalomethane(THM) and haloacetic acid(HAA) disinfection byproducts(DBPs) in drinking water and meet the current regulations. However, chloramination can also produce other highly toxic/carcinogenic, unregulated DBPs: iodoacids, iodo-THMs, and N-nitrosodimethylamine(NDMA). In practice, chloramines are generated by the addition of chlorine with ammonia, and plants use varying amounts of free chlorine contact time prior to ammonia addition to effectively kill pathogens and meet DBP regulations. However, iodo-DBPs and nitrosamines are generally not considered in this balancing of free chlorine contact time. The goal of our work was to determine whether an optimal free chlorine contact time could be established in which iodo-DBPs and NDMA could be minimized, while keeping regulated THMs and HAAs below their regulatory limits. The effect of free chlorine contact time was evaluated for the formation of six iodo-trihalomethanes(iodo-THMs), six iodo-acids, and NDMA during the chloramination of drinking water. Ten different free chlorine contact times were examined for two source waters with different dissolved organic carbon(DOC) and bromide/iodide. For the low DOC water at pH 7 and 8, an optimized free chlorine contact time of up to 1 h could control regulated THMs and HAAs, as well as iodo-DBPs and NDMA. For the high DOC water, a free chlorine contact time of 5 min could control iodo-DBPs and NDMA at both p Hs, but the regulated DBPs could exceed the regulations at pH 7.

Antimicrobial Resistant Coliforms in Tap Water with Low Free Residual Chlorine Levels in Two Hospitals: Case Study in Gaza, Palestine

Universal access to safe water, whether at households or health centres, is central to achieving the sixth sustainable development goal by 2030. A hospital-based survey was conducted to screen for antimicrobial resistance among coliforms in samples collected from tap water (n = 54) at surgical wards in Gaza and to investigate the association with free residual chlorine and pH levels. Total coliforms (TC) were detected in 48.1% (26/54) of tested samples and FCs were detected in 25.9% (14/54). Free residual chlorine test ranged from zero to 0.2 mg/l (average: 0.08 mg/l), of which more than half of the samples (53.7%) 29/54 showed no free residual chlorine. The mean value of free residual chlorine in samples tested positive for growth on m-Endo (0.03) was lower than the mean for negative samples (0.14). The pH values were within the acceptable range (average: 7.6) and there was a statistically significant variation between the mean of pH values for samples tested positive on m-Endo (7.29) and that tested negative (7.84). Among coliform positive samples, 23.1% (6/26) had coliform isolates with resistance patterns. More than two-thirds of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) isolates were resistant to amikacin, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, and imipenem. Moreover, 50% of the isolates were resistant to piperacillin-tazobactam. One-third (33.3%) of isolates were resistant to cefoxitin, and fosfomycin, 16.7% were resistant to ciprofloxacin, and nitrofurantoin. Intermediate resistance was shown in 16.7% of the isolates to cefoxitin and ciprofloxacin. The ESBL and carbapenem resistance genes detected in isolates were TEM (66.7%), NDM (33.3%), OXA (25%), blaCTXM (16.7%), and blaCTXM-3 (16.7%). The finding highlighted the level of contamination with AMR coliform in samples collected from tap water and pointed out the importance of managing water safety through identifying the main source of contamination, in addition to maintaining proper water disinfection at healthcare facilities for the patient, staff and environmental safety.

Simultaneous Control of Microorganisms and Disinfection By-products by Sequential Chlorination

Objective To introduce a new sequential chlorination disinfection process in which short-term free chlorine and chloramine are sequentially added. Methods Pilot tests of this sequential chlorination were carried out in a drinking water plant. Results The sequential chlorination disinfection process had the same or better efficiency on microbe （including virus） inactivation compared with the free chlorine disinfection process. There seemed to be some synergetic disinfection effect between free chlorine and monochloramine because they attacked different targets. The sequential chlorination disinfection process resulted in 35.7%-77.0% TTHM formation and 36.6%-54.8% THAA5 formation less than the free chlorination process. The poorer the water quality was, the more advantage the sequential chlorination disinfection had over the free chlorination. Conclusion This process takes advantages of free chlorine＇s quick inactivation of microorganisms and chloramine＇s low disinfection by-product （DBP） yield and long-term residual effect, allowing simultaneous control of microbes and DBPs in an effective and economic way.

Carbonaceous and nitrogenous disinfection by-product formation in the surface and ground water treatment plants using Yellow River as water source

This work investigated the formation of carbonaceous and nitrogenous disinfection by-products （C-DBPs, N-DBPs） upon chlorination of water samples collected from a surface water and a ground water treatment plant （SWTP and GWTP） where the conventional treatment processes, i.e., coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration were employed. Twenty DBPs, including four trihalomethanes, nine haloacetic acids, seven N-DBPs （dichloroacetamide, trichloroacetamide, dichloroacetonitrile, trichloroacetonitrile, bromochloroace- tonitrile, dibromoacetonitrile and trichloronitromethane）, and eight volatile chlorinated compounds （dichloromethane （DCM）, 1,2-dichloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, chlorobenzene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, 1,2,3-trichlorobenzene and 1,2,4- trichlorobenzene） were detected in the two WTPs. The concentrations of these contaminants were all below their corresponding maximum contamination levels （MCLs） regulated by the Standards for Drinking Water Quality of China （GB5749-2006） except for DCM （17.1 ~tg/L detected vs. 20 μg/L MCL）. The SWTP had much higher concentrations of DBPs detected in the treated water as well as the DBP formation potentials tested in the filtered water than the GWTP, probably because more precursors （e.g., dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen） were present in the water source of the SWTE

Degradation of sulfonamides and formation of trihalomethanes by chlorination after pre-oxidation with Fe(Ⅵ)

Sulfonamides are used in human therapy, animal husbandry and agriculture but are not easily biodegradable, and are often detected in surface water. Sulfamethazine （SMZ） and sulfadiazine （SDZ） are two widely used sulfonamide antibiotics that are used heavily in agriculture. In this study, they were degraded in an aqueous system by chlorination after pre-oxidation with ferrate（VI） （FeVIO2-, Fe（VI））, an environmentally friendly oxidation technique that has been shown to be effective in degrading various organics. The kinetics of the degradation were determined as a function of Fe（VI） （0-1.5 mg/L）, free chlorine （0-1.8 mg/L） and temperature （15- 35℃）. According to the experimental results, SMZ chlorination followed second-order kinetics with increasing Fe（VI） dosage, and the effect of the initial free chlorine concentration on the reaction kinetics with pre-oxidation by Fe（VI） fitted a pseudo-first order model. The rate constants of SDZ and SMZ chlorination at different temperatures were related to the Arrhenius equation. Fe（VI） could reduce the levels of THMs formed and the toxicity of the sulfonamide degradation systems with Fe（VI） doses of 0.5-1.5 mg/L, which provides a reference for ensuring water quality in drinking water systems.