Systematic Review of Microorganism Removal Performance by Physiochemical Water Treatment Technologies

“Access to safe drinking water is crucial for public health necessitating the use of effective water treatment processes. We conducted a systematic literature review on microorganism removal by physical treatment processes used in drinking water treatment systems with the aim of providing current summary data to update the World Health Organization’s Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (GDWQ) and to reflect on the data available for comparison of treatment technologies. We reviewed peer-reviewed articles reporting original data that were published between 1997 and March 2022 on the following physical treatment technologies: roughing filters, storage reservoirs, bank filtration, conventional and high-rate clarification, dissolved air flotation, lime softening, granular media filtration, slow sand filtration, precoat filtration, membrane filtration, granular activated carbon, ceramic membrane filtration, and soil aquifer treatment. The literature search was conducted in several databases including Web of Science and PubMed. Data from 165 articles were included in the analysis and used to calculate Log Reduction Values (LRVs) for each technology by microbial contaminant type (bacteria, virus, or protozoa). The quantity and quality of data ranged widely for each technology. We found granular media, membranes (microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), and reverse osmosis (RO)), and precoat filtration to remove the most protozoa with average LRVs of 3.0 (95% CI 2.8–3.3), 5.7 (95% CI 5.4–6.0), and 4.4 (95% CI 4.1–4.7), respectively. Bacteria was removed most effectively by membrane filtration (MF, UF, RO) with average LRVs of 4.5 (95% CI 3.9–5.1) and moderately by dissolved air flotation, lime softening, and soil aquifer treatment with average LRVs of 2.7, 2.6, and 2.4 respectively. Viruses were removed most effectively by reverse osmosis membrane filtration with an average LRV of 4.9 (95% CI 4.0–5.7). This data provides valuable information on pathogen reduction and areas of needed research. The variation in results underscores the importance of further consideration when selecting technologies to use and the need for standardized reporting in both lab and field studies. It is important to consider variables in water quality and technology operation that may impact treatment effectiveness when selecting treatment options for use. The findings contribute to ongoing efforts to revise the WHO’s GDWQ, offering updated insights into LRVs for different water treatment technologies.”

(Citation: Burke, M., Wells, E., Larison, C., et. al. – Systematic Review of Microorganism Removal Performance by Physiochemical Water Treatment Technologies – Environmental Sciences & Technology (2025) – (Open Access))

Published 2025 by the American Chemical Society