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<p><i>Cryptosporidium </i>oocysts remain a&#xa0;critical challenge for drinking water safety because of their resistance to disinfection and their role in major waterborne outbreaks. Sand filtration is an important component of the multi-barrier system used in drinking water treatment. Reliable assessment of oocyst removal by sand filtration is therefore essential for both treatment design and operational assurance. Because working with live oocysts is complex and costly, surrogate particles are widely used in research and pilot testing. However, the suitability of commonly applied surrogates is not always well understood within practical water management. This study evaluates four candidate surrogates—bacterial spores (<i>Bacillus subtilis</i>), unmodified yellow-green and yellow-orange microspheres, and glycoprotein-coated yellow-orange microspheres—under conditions relevant to rapid sand filtration using Vienna tap water. The results demonstrate that surrogate performance strongly depends on physicochemical properties such as particle size, surface charge, hydrophobicity, and the presence of surface macromolecules. Spores and yellow-green microspheres significantly underestimated oocyst removal, while unmodified yellow-orange microspheres slightly overestimated it. Glycoprotein-coated microspheres most closely matched the behaviour of <i>Cryptosporidium</i> oocysts, providing a&#xa0;realistic yet slightly conservative prediction of removal. The findings underline that careful surrogate selection is crucial for effective filter design, validation, and communication of treatment performance. The use of precisely tailored surrogates helps to strengthen confidence in sand filtration and avoids unnecessary oversizing, whereby safety margins and cost efficiency must be weighed against each other. This paper was produced as part of the Vienna Water Resource Systems 2020+ research collaboration and is a&#xa0;version of the original paper published in the Journal of Water Process Engineering in 2025 (Stevenson et&#xa0;al. <CitationRef CitationID="CR28">2025</CitationRef>) adapted for the Austrian Water and Waste Management Journal.</p>

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Bewertung von Surrogaten zur Validierung des Rückhaltevermögens von Cryptosporidien-Oozysten bei der Trinkwasseraufbereitung durch Sandfiltration

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月20日

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  • Margaret E. Stevenson,
  • Liping Pang,
  • Andreas H. Farnleitner,
  • Gerhard Lindner,
  • Michael Reiter,
  • Alexander K. T. Kirschner,
  • Alfred P. Blaschke,
  • Regina Sommer

摘要

Cryptosporidium oocysts remain a critical challenge for drinking water safety because of their resistance to disinfection and their role in major waterborne outbreaks. Sand filtration is an important component of the multi-barrier system used in drinking water treatment. Reliable assessment of oocyst removal by sand filtration is therefore essential for both treatment design and operational assurance. Because working with live oocysts is complex and costly, surrogate particles are widely used in research and pilot testing. However, the suitability of commonly applied surrogates is not always well understood within practical water management. This study evaluates four candidate surrogates—bacterial spores (Bacillus subtilis), unmodified yellow-green and yellow-orange microspheres, and glycoprotein-coated yellow-orange microspheres—under conditions relevant to rapid sand filtration using Vienna tap water. The results demonstrate that surrogate performance strongly depends on physicochemical properties such as particle size, surface charge, hydrophobicity, and the presence of surface macromolecules. Spores and yellow-green microspheres significantly underestimated oocyst removal, while unmodified yellow-orange microspheres slightly overestimated it. Glycoprotein-coated microspheres most closely matched the behaviour of Cryptosporidium oocysts, providing a realistic yet slightly conservative prediction of removal. The findings underline that careful surrogate selection is crucial for effective filter design, validation, and communication of treatment performance. The use of precisely tailored surrogates helps to strengthen confidence in sand filtration and avoids unnecessary oversizing, whereby safety margins and cost efficiency must be weighed against each other. This paper was produced as part of the Vienna Water Resource Systems 2020+ research collaboration and is a version of the original paper published in the Journal of Water Process Engineering in 2025 (Stevenson et al. 2025) adapted for the Austrian Water and Waste Management Journal.