Spores of sulphite-reducing clostridia: a surrogate parameter for assessing the effects of water treatment processes on protozoan (oo)cysts?

Abstract

In the Netherlands monitoring of drinking water and the untreated surface water for spores of sulphite-reducing clostrida (SSRC) is prescribed in national legislation since several decades. This paper demonstrates that SSRC-spores can be used to assess the effects of water treatment processes on persistent micro-organisms. The Decimal Elimination Capacity of the treatment processes for SSRC were in the same order of magnitude as those reported in literature for protozoan (oo)cysts.