The removal performance of two surrogates for pathogenic waterborne viruses, F-specific RNA bacteriophages Q beta and MS2, was evaluated during the coagulation-ceramic microfiltration process. River water spiked with these bacteriophages was used to investigate differences in their behaviors. Infectious and total (infectious + inactivated) bacteriophage concentrations were measured by plaque forming unit and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction methods, respectively. Removal of infectious Q beta and MS2 was similar under each coagulation condition. Approximately 6-log reduction was achieved for both bacteriophages at 1.08 mg-Al/L of coagulant dose and 5-min coagulation time. At least 4-log reduction occurred even when coagulant dose and coagulation time were reduced to 0.54 mg-Al/L and 1.8 s, respectively. In contrast, removal of total Q beta and MS2 differed markedly. Removal of total MS2 was approximately 2-log larger than that of total Q beta, possibly owing to selective interaction with the cake layer, although the particle diameters and electrophoretic mobilities of Q beta and MS2 were similar. The total number of bacteriophages retained in the microfiltration compartment after 4-h filtration was similar for Q beta and MS2, but there were approximately 3 log fewer infectious Q beta than infectious MS2, probably owing to the difference in sensitivity to the virucidal activity of aluminum coagulant. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.