Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026

A Small Volume Procedure for Viral Concentration from Water
Published on: February 3, 2015
Iron oxide amended biosand filters for virus removal
Ian Bradley1, Anthony Straub, Peter Maraccini
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, United States.
Abstract:
Laboratory studies were performed to determine if the addition of iron oxides throughout biosand filter (BSF) media would increase virus removal due to adsorption. The proposed mechanism is electrostatic adsorption of negatively charged virion particles to positively charged iron oxides formed during the corrosion of zerovalent iron. Initial tests conducted using continuous flow, small-scale glass columns showed high MS2 bacteriophage removal in an iron-amended sand column (5log10) compared to a sand-only column (0.5log10) over 20 pore volumes. Additionally, two experiments with a column containing iron particles revealed 4log10 and 5log10 removal of rotavirus in the presence of 20 mg/L total organic carbon. Full-scale BSFs with iron particles removed>4log10 MS2 for the duration of the experiment (287 days), while BSF with steel wool removed>4log10 MS2 for the first 160 days. Plug flow for the BSF was shown to depend on uniformity between the iron oxide material and sand media grains. The results suggest that the duration of effective virus removal by iron-amended biosand filtration depends on source water conditions and the quantity and composition of iron material added. Overall, this study provides evidence that iron-amended BSFs may advance the field of point-of-use technologies and bring relief to millions of people suffering from waterborne diseases.
Related Concept Videos
Microbial Bioremediation of Uranium
Extracorporeal Removal of Drugs: Hemoperfusion and Hemofiltration
Coagulation
Physical Methods for Controlling Microbial Growth: Radiation and Filtration
Biological Treatment of Effluent and Waste Water
Microbial Leaching

