Water scarcity is a global concern that impacts many developing countries, forcing people to depend on unclean water sources for domestic, agricultural, and industrial needs. Wastewater is an alternative water source that contains nutrients needed for crop growth. Wastewater reuse for agriculture can cause public health problems because of human exposure to pathogens. Pathogen monitoring is essential to evaluate the compliance of wastewater with established World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wastewater reuse guidelines. Indicator organisms are commonly used to detect pathogens in water and wastewater because they are quick and easy to measure, non-pathogenic, and have simple and inexpensive methods of detection. The objective of this research was to develop a modified double agar layer assay method that can be conducted in the field to quantify bacteriophage to assess the quality of wastewater for agricultural reuse. Results from the modified double agar layer assay were used to investigate the potential of somatic coliphage as an indicator organism for assessing the potential presence of enteric viruses in developing world treated wastewater, and to use the criteria of a good indicator organism to compare the potential of two commonly used indicator organisms, somatic coliphage and fecal coliforms, as an indicator of enteric viruses in wastewater. A modified EPA double agar layer method was developed and deployed in a developing world rural community to effectively quantify the concentration of somatic coliphage in a community managed wastewater treatment system composed of a Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor followed by two maturation lagoons. The modified method served as a good indicator of enteric viruses in the water. Somatic coliphages were easily detected and quantified in the field setting using a modified double agar layer method. Somatic coliphage was found to be a potential indicator for enteric viruses rather than fecal coliforms because of their similarity in characteristics and resistances to wastewater treatment. The concentration of somatic coliphage was only reduced by 1.05 log units across the two series maturation lagoon system. Previous literature suggested removal would range from 2.1 to 4.6 log units. Influent wastewater (previously treated by an UASB reactor) had a concentration of 4.38 E+06 PFU/ 100 mL (standard deviation = ±3.7E+06, n = 9) and the treated effluent contained 3.90 E+05 PFU/100 mL (standard deviation = ± 4.5E+05, n = 8) of somatic coliphages. Results suggest that somatic coliphage is a good potential indicator for enteric viruses in wastewater but further research needs to be done.

O presente trabalho propõe uma metodologia científica, com critérios bem definidos, para avaliar e quantificar o desempenho ambiental e a renovabilidade de processos de tratamento de esgoto, numa base única: a exergia. O desempenho ambiental é quantificado através do cálculo da eficiência exergética ambiental, definida como a razão da exergia do efeito útil do processo pela exergia total consumida dos recursos humanos e naturais, incluindo todas as entradas exergéticas. O cálculo da renovabilidade é feito por meio do índice exergético de renovabilidade definido como como a razão entre a exergia dos produtos pela soma das exergias não renováveis, a exergia destruída, a exergia de desativação e a exergia das emissões e residuos. A metodologia foi aplicada a três processos de tratamento de esgoto: dois biológicos (aeróbio e anaeróbio) e um físico-químico (TQA). O cálculo dos indicadores exergéticos foi realizado para cada um destes processos e foi observado que o processo com maiores valores de desempenho ambiental e renovabilidade, considerando o metano e o lodo do processo como efeito útil, foi o processo RAFA Lagoa Facultativa, com valores respectivamente de n<exerg,amb> (0,983) e lâmbda(7,060). A análise dos resultados mostrou que a metodologia proposta é uma ferramenta útil na avaliação e comparação do desempenho ambiental e da renovabilidade de processos de tratamento de esgoto. / This work proposes a scientific methodology, with well defined criteria, to assess and quantify the environmental performance and renewability of wastewater treatment processes on a single base: the exergy. The environmental performance was measured by calculating the environmental exergy efficiency defined as the exergy ratio of the useful effect of the process to the total exergy consumed by human and natural resources, including all the exergy inputs. The renewability calculation was done using the renewability exergy index defined as the exergy ratio of the products to the sum of the non-renewable exergy, destroyed exergy, deactivation exergy and the emissions and waste exergy. The methodology was applied to three wastewater treatment processes: biological (aerobic and anaerobic) and physicochemical (CEPT) processes. The exergy indicators were calculated for each of these processes and it was observed that the process with the higher environmental performance and renewability values, considering the methane and sludge of process as useful effect, was the Facultative Lagoon UASB process, with values, respectively, of n<env,exerg>(0.983) and lambda(7.060). The results analysis showed that the proposed methodology is a useful tool in the evaluation and comparison of environmental performance and renewability of wastewater treatment processes.

O presente trabalho propõe uma metodologia científica, com critérios bem definidos, para avaliar e quantificar o desempenho ambiental e a renovabilidade de processos de tratamento de esgoto, numa base única: a exergia. O desempenho ambiental é quantificado através do cálculo da eficiência exergética ambiental, definida como a razão da exergia do efeito útil do processo pela exergia total consumida dos recursos humanos e naturais, incluindo todas as entradas exergéticas. O cálculo da renovabilidade é feito por meio do índice exergético de renovabilidade definido como como a razão entre a exergia dos produtos pela soma das exergias não renováveis, a exergia destruída, a exergia de desativação e a exergia das emissões e residuos. A metodologia foi aplicada a três processos de tratamento de esgoto: dois biológicos (aeróbio e anaeróbio) e um físico-químico (TQA). O cálculo dos indicadores exergéticos foi realizado para cada um destes processos e foi observado que o processo com maiores valores de desempenho ambiental e renovabilidade, considerando o metano e o lodo do processo como efeito útil, foi o processo RAFA Lagoa Facultativa, com valores respectivamente de n<exerg,amb> (0,983) e lâmbda(7,060). A análise dos resultados mostrou que a metodologia proposta é uma ferramenta útil na avaliação e comparação do desempenho ambiental e da renovabilidade de processos de tratamento de esgoto. / This work proposes a scientific methodology, with well defined criteria, to assess and quantify the environmental performance and renewability of wastewater treatment processes on a single base: the exergy. The environmental performance was measured by calculating the environmental exergy efficiency defined as the exergy ratio of the useful effect of the process to the total exergy consumed by human and natural resources, including all the exergy inputs. The renewability calculation was done using the renewability exergy index defined as the exergy ratio of the products to the sum of the non-renewable exergy, destroyed exergy, deactivation exergy and the emissions and waste exergy. The methodology was applied to three wastewater treatment processes: biological (aerobic and anaerobic) and physicochemical (CEPT) processes. The exergy indicators were calculated for each of these processes and it was observed that the process with the higher environmental performance and renewability values, considering the methane and sludge of process as useful effect, was the Facultative Lagoon UASB process, with values, respectively, of n<env,exerg>(0.983) and lambda(7.060). The results analysis showed that the proposed methodology is a useful tool in the evaluation and comparison of environmental performance and renewability of wastewater treatment processes.