Recombinant adenovirus as a model to evaluate the efficiency of free chlorine disinfection in filtered water samples.

BACKGROUND: In Brazil, ordinance no. 2,914/2011 of the Ministry of Health requires the absence of total coliforms and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in treated water. However it is essential that water treatment is effective against all pathogens. Disinfection in Water Treatment Plants (WTP) is commonly performed with chlorine.

METHODS: The recombinant adenovirus (rAdV), which expresses green fluorescent protein (GFP) when cultivated in HEK 293A cells, was chosen as a model to evaluate the efficiency of chlorine for human adenovirus (HAdV) inactivation in filtered water samples from two WTPs: Lagoa do Peri (pH 6.9) and Morro dos Quadros (pH 6.5). Buffered demand free (BDF) water (pH 6.9 and 8.0) was used as control. The samples were previously submitted to physicochemical characterization, and bacteriological analysis. Two free chlorine concentrations and two temperatures were assayed for all samples (0.2 mg/L, 0.5 mg/L, and 15°C, and 20°C). Fluorescence microscopy (FM) was used to check viral infectivity in vitro and qPCR as a molecular method to determine viral genome copies. Real treated water samples from the WTP (at the output of WTP and the distribution network) were also evaluated for total coliforms, E. coli and HAdV.

RESULTS: The time required to inactivate 4log₁₀ of rAdV was less than 1 min, when analyzed by FM, except for BDF pH 8.0 (up to 2.5 min for 4log₁₀). The pH had a significant influence on the efficiency of disinfection. The qPCR assay was not able to provide information regarding rAdV inactivation. The data were modeled (Chick-Watson), and the observed Ct values were comparable with the values reported in the literature and smaller than the values recommended by the EPA. In the treated water samples, HAdV was detected in the distribution network of the WTP Morro dos Quadros (2.75 × 10(3) PFU/L).

CONCLUSION: The Chick-Watson model proved to have adjusted well to the experimental conditions used, and it was possible to prove that the adenoviruses were rapidly inactivated in the surface water treated with chlorine and that the recombinant adenovirus expressing GFP is a good model for this evaluation.