Sewage contamination in environmental waters is a global problem that affects millions annually. To mitigate this problem and monitor environmental water quality, health regulators commonly use microbial fecal indicators. Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are the most common fecal indicators used to date but are poor representatives of viruses due to differential environmental fate. Viral fecal indicators have been proposed as alternatives to FIB; however, data evaluating the persistence and transport of emerging viral fecal indicators under realistic environmental conditions is necessary to evaluate their potential application. In this presentation, I will discuss three main studies that investigate the decay, particle association, and transport of a number of promising viral fecal pollution indicators. The parameters and model developed through these studies will provide substantial information for the development of viral indicators in water quality monitoring. This work will also provide a basis to better integrate decay and transport into microbial risk of infection models to better protect public health.