Removal of Coliphage MS2 Using a Microbial Fuel Cell Stack

Abstract

Bioelectrochemical technologies offer alternative ways of treating wastewater and using this process to generate electricity. However, research in this area is just beginning to consider environmental transmission of viruses present in wastewater. The viral fecal indicator coliphage MS2 (the most frequently used pathogen model) was used in this study, since it is a well-known indigenous wastewater virus. The scaled-up bioelectrochemical system had a working volume of 167 L and coliphage MS2 concentration decreased from 8000 to 285 PFU/mL. The kinetics were quantified up to 15 h, after which excessive yeast growth in the system prevented further bacteriophage determination. The logarithmic reduction value (LRV) calculated within the first three hours was 3.8. From 4 hours to 14, LRV values were from 4.1 to 4.8, and in hour 15 the LRV increased to 5.3, yielding a more than 90% reduction. Overall, results obtained indicate that the scaled-up bioelectrochemical treatment system was efficient in reducing coliphage MS2 densities and could be used as a model to explore its further applicability for the reduction of viruses or pathogens in treated effluents.