Comparative Inactivation of Murine Norovirus and MS2 Bacteriophage by Peracetic Acid and Monochloramine in Municipal Secondary Wastewater Effluent

Chlorination has long been used for disinfection of municipal wastewater (MWW) effluent while the use peracetic acid (PAA) has been proposed more recently in the United States. Previous work has demonstrated the bactericidal effectiveness of PAA and monochloramine in wastewater, but limited information is available for viruses, especially ones of mammalian origin (e.g., norovirus). Therefore, a comparative assessment was performed of the virucidal efficacy of PAA and monochloramine against murine norovirus (MNV) and MS2 bacteriophage in secondary effluent MWW and phosphate buffer (PB). A suite of inactivation kinetic models was fit to the viral inactivation data. Predicted concentration-time (CT) values for 1-log₁₀ MS2 reduction by PAA and monochloramine in MWW were 1254 and 1228 mg-min/L, respectively. The 1-, 2-, and 3-log₁₀ model predicted CT values for MNV viral reduction in MWW were 32, 47, and 69 mg-min/L for PAA and 6, 13, and 28 mg-min/L for monochloramine, respectively. Wastewater treatment plant disinfection practices informed by MS2 inactivation data will likely be protective for public health but may overestimate CT values for reduction of MNV. Additionally, equivalent CT values in PB resulted in greater viral reduction which indicate that viral inactivation data in laboratory grade water may not be generalizable to MWW applications.