Application of the Human Viral Surrogate Pepper Mild Mottle Virus for Wastewater Fecal Pollution Management

Global water scarcity has led to significant dependence on reclaimed or recycled water for potable uses. Effluents arising from human and animal gut microbiomes highly influence water quality. Wastewater pollution is, therefore, frequently monitored using bacterial indicators (BI). However, threats to public health arise from the frequent incidence of wastewater-mediated viral infections–undetected by BI. Moreover, the enteric viromes contaminating wastewater are characterized by high abundance, genetic diversity and persistence in various water environments. Furthermore, humans usually suffer a minimum of a single acute diarrheal episode over their lifetime arising from extraneously acquired enteric microbiomes. A wide range of management methods are employed—in particular, microbial source tracking (MST) approaches to confront infections arising from exposure to contaminated wastewater. This review elaborates the viral contamination of treated wastewater and associated public health issues. Latterly, we discuss the various management strategies of wastewater pollution using conventional fecal indicators, viral indicators and human viral surrogates, with particular interest in the pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV). Globally, PMMoV has been detected in rivers, aquifers, irrigation systems, and coastal and marine waters at high prevalence rates and concentrations greater than 10⁵ genome copies per liter (gc/L). PMMoV was also found in almost all untreated wastewater environments. PMMoV concentrations in wastewater vary from 10³ to 10⁷ gc/L. These values are more than the maximum recorded viral indicator concentrations in wastewater for other proposed indicators. Limited variability in the daily concentrations of PMMoV in fecal wastewater has been studied, with an estimated average concentration of 10⁵ gc/L with insignificant seasonal variability. The information summarized in this article offers fundamental knowledge for decision making in terms of defining the suitability criteria of candidate fecal indicators, risk assessment application and efficient wastewater management.