New methods for the concentration of viruses from urban sewage using quantitative PCR

► Four procedures to concentrate viruses from sewage were compared using q(RT) PCR. ► All methods compared yield high values of recovery and virus detection in sewage. ► Elution/skim-milk flocculation (ESMP) ranked as the most sensible protocol. ► ESMP is an standardizable protocol for routine quantification of viruses in sewage.