ABSTRACT

Viruses in sewage sludges are clearly subjects of public health concern. To fully assess the extent of these concerns, a need exists for the quantification of viruses associated with the solids involved. This chapter addresses this need by summarizing the methods that have been proposed for recovering viruses from wastewater sludges and from suspended solids in water. The most common method for recovering viruses associated with solids in water has been direct inoculation. Several types of diluents and elution buffers have been used for recovering viruses from sludges and solids. In order to fully assess the viral hazards presented by sewage sludges, it is necessary to develop and standardize methods that can be used to monitor sludge virus content during treatment and following ultimate disposal. The most direct method for enumerating viruses in sewage sludges is assay of either the whole intact sludge or diluted whole sludge.