Virucidal activity of an activated sludge supernatant

The virucidal activity of the activated sludge aqueous phase was studied from the time of initial inoculation with a poliovirus type 1 suspension and for durations of three and nine days. The mixtures were incubated in presence of a nutritive medium at 26 degrees C and samples were drawn at regular intervals of time for viral titration. The activated sludge supernatant (ASS) caused an important decrease of the titer of the poliovirus type 1 suspension especially after nine days of incubation. There was an average reduction of the viral titer of 79% after three days and 97% after nine days. When incubating the ASS with a nutritive medium before inoculating it, the viral decrease was much greater than when incubating without nutritive medium. When sterilizing the ASS before incubation and then inoculating it, no significant virucidal activity was observed (0% to 6%). Furthermore, when the ASS was subjected to a sterilization by filtration after incubation and was then inoculated, there existed a lower but not negligible viral inactivation (53% to 64%). The virucidal activity potentiality of the ASS is therefore due to microorganisms acting both directly as a support for viral particles adsorption and indirectly via the synthesis of substances with virucidal activity. When freezing and thawing the incubated ASS, and then sterilizing it by filtration before inoculation, the viral decrease reached 87% to 94%. This proves that the virucidal substances are only partly excreted by the microorganisms.