Ayan Kamdar
Research Mentor(s): Krista Wigginton
Mentor Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Authors: Ayan Kamdar, Kira Zhao, Mira Chaplin
Session: Session 4 (1:00pm – 1:50pm)
Presentation Type: Poster 65
Abstract
Ensuring effective virus removal from water is a critical public health measure to prevent the
spread of viral infections. This study conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate the
disinfection efficacy of three commonly used chemical agents: chlorine dioxide, chloramines,
and peracetic acid. The primary objective was to integrate data from published studies into a
predictive model that can estimate virus inactivation rates under varying environmental
conditions, such as pH and temperature. Additionally, the study aimed to assess whether existing
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory standards for virus disinfection are sufficient
to address the diversity of viruses and conditions encountered in wastewater treatment.
The review process consisted of three distinct stages. First, relevant articles were identified using
targeted keywords related to the selected disinfectants. Second, inclusion criteria were developed
to ensure the reliability and consistency of the data, focusing on studies that reported kinetic data
and experimental conditions, including temperature and pH levels. Finally, articles were screened
to evaluate their suitability based on these parameters.
The numerical data extracted was used to calculate the rate constants based on pre-existing
models defining the relationship between dose and virus inactivation prediction. We then plotted
the rate constants based on the relationship between dose and CT value (concentration * time),
and created a predictive model for the rate constant based on this data. The resulting predictive
model will consolidate over 850 distinct data sets and will provide insights into optimizing
disinfection protocols and evaluating the adequacy of current EPA standards for wastewater
treatment.
