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Process Relationships for Evaluating the Role of Light-induced Inactivation of Coliphages at Selected Beaches and Nearby Tributaries of the Great Lakes
Citation:
Zepp, R., M. Molina, Mike Cyterski, G. Whelan, R. Parmar, K. Wong, B. Acrey, AND R. Georgacopoulous. Process Relationships for Evaluating the Role of Light-induced Inactivation of Coliphages at Selected Beaches and Nearby Tributaries of the Great Lakes. 2016 Recreational Waters Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 12 - 15, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
Presented at the 2016 Recreational Waters Conference
Description:
Past studies have indicated that sunlight plays an important role in altering densities of coliphages, other indicator microorganisms and pathogens in aquatic environments. Fate and transport modeling of bacteriophage requires mathematical relationships that describe the wavelength dependence for photoinactivation (biological weighting functions (BWFs), also called action spectra). In this study we define BWFs as the photoinactivation rate constants normalized to the irradiance at various wavelengths. Photoinactivation of bacteriophage is defined by loss of culturability (ability to form plaques). The objective of this presentation is to provide action spectra for photoinactivation of four F-specific/somatic coliphages and then to illustrate the use of the action spectra in modeling the photoinactivation of the phages at selected Great Lakes beaches. (Fig. 1)