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Fluorescent Microspheres as Surrogates in Evaluating the Efficacy of Riverbank Filtration for Removing Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts and Other Pathogens

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Riverbank Filtration for Water Security in Desert Countries

Abstract

A major benefit of riverbank filtration (RBF) is that it provides a relatively effective means for pathogen removal. There is a need to conduct more injection-and-recovery transport studies at operating RBF sites in order to properly assess the combined effects of the site heterogeneities and ambient physicochemical conditions, which are difficult to replicate in the lab. For field transport studies involving pathogens, there is considerable interest in using fluorescent carboxylated microspheres (FCM) as surrogates, because they are chemically inert, negatively charged, easy to detect, available in a wide variety of sizes, and have been found to be nonhazardous in tracer applications. Although there have been a number of in-situ studies comparing the subsurface transport behaviors of FCM to those of bacteria and viruses, much less is known about their suitability for investigations of protozoa. Oocysts of the intestinal protozoan pathogen Cryptosporidium spp are of particular concern for many RBF operations because of their ubiquity and persistence in rivers and high resistance to chlorine disinfection. Although microspheres often have proven to be less-than-ideal analogs for capturing the abiotic transport behavior of viruses and bacteria, there is encouraging recent evidence regarding use of FCM as surrogates for C. parvum oocysts. This chapter discusses the potential of fluorescent microspheres as safe and easy-to-detect surrogates for evaluating the efficacy of RBF operations for removing pathogens, particularly Cryptosporidium, from source waters at different points along the flow path.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge assistance and funding from the Sonoma County Water Agency, the USGS Ohio Water Science Center, the USGS Massachusetts Science Center, and from the USGS Toxics program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street, Suite E-127, Boulder, CO, 80305, USA

    Ronald Harvey & David Metge

  2. U.S. Geological Survey Eastern Region Science Office, 6480 Doubletree Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43229, USA

    Rodney Sheets

  3. Sonoma County Water Agency, 404 Aviation Boulevard, Santa Rosa, CA, 95403, USA

    Jay Jasperse

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  1. Ronald Harvey
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  2. David Metge
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  4. Jay Jasperse
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Correspondence to Ronald Harvey .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Faculty of Engineering, Minia University, Minia, 61111, Egypt

    Mohamed Shamrukh

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Harvey, R., Metge, D., Sheets, R., Jasperse, J. (2011). Fluorescent Microspheres as Surrogates in Evaluating the Efficacy of Riverbank Filtration for Removing Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts and Other Pathogens. In: Shamrukh, M. (eds) Riverbank Filtration for Water Security in Desert Countries. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0026-0_6

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