Tutorial Sheet – Water Pollution

P1. If the BOD of a municipal wastewater at the end of 7 days is 60.0 mg/L and the
ultimate BOD is 85.0 mg/L,

1. what is the rate constant?

2. Compute the rate constant at 16°C.

P2. a. What sample size (in percent) is required for a BOD5 of 350.0 mg/L if the
oxygen consumed is to be limited to 6.00 mg/L?
b. Assume a standard BOD5 test is being done with a 300 mL sample bottle.
Present your answer as both required volume of sample (in mL and as samplsize in
percent.
Given: BOD5= 350.0 mg/L; oxygen consumption = 6.00 mg/L.

P3. The initial ultimate BOD after mixing in the Bergelmir River is 12.0 mg/L. The
DO in the Bergelmir River after the wastewater and river have mixed is at
saturation. The river temperature is 10°C. At 10°C, the deoxygenation rate
constant (k1) is 0.30 day-1, and the reaeration rate constant (k2) is 0.40 day-1.
Determine the critical point (tc) and the critical DO.

P4. If we fill a 600 ml cylinder with a polluted water, then its closed and kept at
dry and dark place at 18◦C

1- What may occur to the water after some days? (Sketch to show your answer).
2- Find the dissolved oxygen at the five day.
3- Calculate the amount of the oxygen used after 1 month.

Given the following:L◦=40 mg/liter, k1=0.55 day-1

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Water Temperature ◦C Saturation concentration of oxygen in water ( mg/liter )
0 14.6
2 13.8
6 12.5
10 11.3
14 10.4
20 9.2
26 8.2

P5. Calculate BOD5 according to the following data:

t day 0 2 4 6 8 10
Z mg/l 33 21 12 3 2.2 1.2

P6. For a large stream with the following data:

𝐾̀1 = 0.23𝑑𝑎𝑦 −1 , 𝐾̀2 = 0.47𝑑𝑎𝑦 −1 stream velocity= 5 miles/ hour, D◦=5 mg

/liter; T=25◦C .

1- Calculate the deficit of the oxygen and DO after 0.75 days.

2- Find the depth of the river.
3- Sketch the relation between the DO and the distance downstream from the
point of discharge.

P7. A water sample is diluted by a factor of 10 using seeded dilution water.

Dissolved oxygen concentration is measured at 1-d intervals, and the results are

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 listed below. Using these data, determine the BOD as a function of time, i.e.,
calculate the BOD for each day.

P8. A10.0 ml sample of wastewater with enough water to fill a 300 ml bottle has
an initial DO of 9.0 mg/L. To help assure an accurate test, it is desirable to have
at least a 2.0 mg/l drop in DO during the five day run, and the final DO should be
at least 2 mg/l. For what range of BOD5.

P9.A wastewater treatment plant disposes of its effluent in a surface stream

characteristics of the stream and effluent are shown below:

Parameters Wastewater Stream

Flow (m3/s) 0.2 5
Dissolved Oxygen (mg/l) 1 8
9.17
Saturation Dissolved Oxygen (mg/l) 9.17

K̀1 = 0.23day −1 , K̀ 2 = 0.3day −1 L◦=8.44 mg /liter;

1- What will be the dissolved oxygen conc. in the stream after 48 hrs?

2- What will be the lowest dissolved oxygen concentration as a result of the waste
discharge?

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P10. What is the theoretical COD of samples if it is containing 300 mg/L of :

(a) Ethanol (C2H5OH) (b) Phenol (C6H5OH) (c) Leucine (C6H13NO2 ).

P11.Determine k and Lo for a samples according to the following data:

Time(day) Measured BOD( mg/liter )

0.5 5
1.0 20
2.0 90
3.0 160
4.0 200
5.0 220
7.0 260
10.0 285
15.0 320

P12. The WWTP in the “AA” community discharges 10 million gallons/day of

secondary effluent into a stream “Red Cedar” whose minimum flow rate is 100
m3/s. WWTP effluent Stream water:

Using above information, calculate the following:

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1) Temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO) and BOD of the mixture.
2) Initial dissolved oxygen deficit at the place of mixing.
3) Critical oxygen deficit (Dc), time for maximum dissolved oxygen deficit (tmax)
and its location from discharge point (Xc).
4) The dissolved oxygen level and 20°C BOD5 of a sample taken at the critical
point.
Given: Saturated oxygen concentration in stream before discharge is 10.07 mg/L
at 15°C. Saturated DO at 15.7°C is 9.9 mg/L. Use temperature coefficients of
1.135 for k1 and 1.024 for k2 for applying temperature corrections for these two
constants.

P13. Suppose a wastewater has a BOD after 5 days is equal to 180 mg/l and a
reaction rate (k1) equal to 0.22/day. Find the ultimate dissolved oxygen and the
remaining z(t) after five days have elapsed.

P14.The following figure shows a plot of BOD remaining versus time for a sample
of the effluent taken from a wastewater treatment plant. What is the BOD after 5
days?

P15.If the BOD of a municipal wastewater at the end of 7 days is 60.0 mg/L and the
ultimate Lo is 85.0 mg/L , given the temperature was 25 oC :

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1- What is the rate constant at this temperature?

2- What is the rate constant at this temperature at 16°C?

P16. Prove that

P17.The BOD5 of a wastewater is determined to be 150 mg/l at 20 oC. The k value

is known to be 0.23 per day. What would the BOD8 be if the test were run at 15 oC?

P18. A polluted sample was diluted with dilution water to a total volume of 300 ml
when the initial DO concentration is 8 mg/l and after 5 days has been reduced to 2
mg/l.Determine the 5 day BOD for this sample if initial volume was :

1- 30 ml 2- 15 ml

P19. The initial ultimate BOD after mixing in the river A is 12.0 mg/l. The DO in
the B river after the wastewater and river have mixed is saturation. The river
temperature is 10 oC. At 10 oC, the deoxygenation rate constant k1 is 0.30 day -1
and the reaeration rate constant k2 is 0.40 day -1.Determine the critical time (tc)
and the critical DO.

P20.. Assume that a large stream has a reoxygenation constant k 2 of 0.4day-1, a

flow velocity of 5 miles/h, and at the point of pollutant discharge, the stream is
saturated with oxygen at 10 mg. The wastewater flow rate is very small compared
with the stream flow, so the mixture is assumed to be saturated with dissolved
oxygen and to have an oxygen demand of 20 mgL. The deoxygenation constant k1
is 0.2 day-1.What is the dissolved oxygen level30 miles downstream?

P21. An industry discharges sufficient quantities of organic wastes to depress the

oxygen sag curve to 2 mg/l 5 miles downstream, at which point the dissolved
oxygen begins to increase. The state regulatory agency finds the industry out of

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compliance because the minimum dissolved oxygen violates state standards, and
wants to impose a fine. A wastewater treatment plant is too expensive, so the
industry looks around for another solution. A salesman suggests that a special kind
of freeze-dried bacteria, particularly adapted to the plant's organic waste, be
dumped into the river at the point of discharge: the freeze-dried bacteria will
come to life, break down the organic material, and solve the problem. Will this
approach work? Why or why not? Draw the dissolved oxygen sag curve before and
after the bacteria are added and explain what happens.

P22.A Town discharges 17360 m3/day of sewage into a nearby stream. Stream has
a minimum flow of 0.4 m3/s, depth of 2.5m and a velocity of 5 km/hr, On
information pertaining to the stream and sewage are as follows:

Source Temperature (°C) DO (mg/l) BOD5(mg/l)

Stream 20 .58 10
Sewage 25 1 200

The deoxygenation constant (k1) evaluated at 20°C =0.35/day. Determine the

critical oxygen deficit, Dc and its location, xc.

P23.The BOD versus time data for the first 5 days of a BOD test are obtained
as follows:

Calculate ḱ1 and L
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P24.The Waramurngundi tannery with a wastewater flow of 0.011 m3/s and a
BOD5 of 590 mg/L discharges into Djanggawul Creek. The creek has a 10-year, 7-
day low flow of 1.7 m3/s. Upstream of the Waramurungundi tannery, the BOD5 of
the creek is 0.6 mg/L. The BOD rate constants (k) are 0.115 day-1 for the
Waramurungundi tannery and 3.7 d-1 for the creek. Calculate the initial ultimate
BOD after mixing.
Given: Tannery Qw = 0.011 m3/s, BOD5 = 590 mg/L, Creek Qr = 1.7 m3/s, BOD5
upstream of tannery = 0.6 mg/L, k tannery = 0.115 d-1, k creek = 3.7
d-1.