ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY

ECW 568
OPEN-ENDED LAB REPORT

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT : CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD)

DATE OF EXPERIMENT : 6th May 2020
GROUP : 6A2
GROUP MEMBERS 1. AYZA NAZIRA BINTI ZULFAZLI (2017800464)
2. INTAN ZAHARAH BINTI KHAIRUDDIN (2017800372)
3. MUHAMAD AIMAN BIN ISMAIL (2018438144)
4. MUHAMAD HARITH HAIQAL BIN YUSIFF (2017800448)
5. MUHAMMAD AKMAL BIN MOHD NOOR (2017800312)
LECTURER : MADAM JALINA KASSIM
LEVEL OF OPENESS : 2

MARKS COMMENTS

INTRODUCTION
BASIC CONCEPTS
METHODOLOGY 1 2 3 4 5
RESULTS&ANALYSIS 1 2 3 4 5
DISCUSSION 1 2 3 4 5
CONCLUSION 1 2 3 4 5
ORGANIZATION 1 2 3 4 5

TOTAL MARKS
INTRODUCTION ( Muhammad Akmal )

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is commonly used as a measurement of pollutants in

natural and wastewater such as sewage and industrial effluent waters. It is normally measured

in both municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants and able to give an indication of

the efficiency of the treatment process. COD is measured in both influent and effluent water

(before and after treatment) and the efficiency of the treatment process is normally expressed

as COD removal, measured as a percentage of the organic matter removed during the cycle.

OBJECTIVES (Muhammad Akmal)

1. To measure the concentration of COD in water sample.

2. To analyze data and interpret the results of the COD experiment.

BASIC CONCEPTS (Ayza Nazira)

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is a second method of estimating how much

oxygen would be depleted from a body of receiving water as a result of bacterial action.

While the BOD test is performed by using a population of bacteria and

other microorganisms to attempt to duplicate what would happen in a natural stream over a

period of five days, the COD test uses a strong chemical oxidizing

agent (potassium dichromate or potassium permanganate) to chemically oxidize the organic

material in the sample of wastewater under conditions of heat and strong acid.

The COD test has the advantage of not being subject to interference from toxic

materials, as well as requiring only two or three hours for test completion, as opposed to five

days for the BOD test. It has the disadvantage of being completely artificial, but is

nevertheless considered to yield a result that may be used as the basis upon which to calculate

a reasonably accurate and reproducible estimate of the oxygen-demanding properties of a

wastewater.

The COD test is often used in conjunction with the BOD test to estimate the amount

of nonbiodegradable organic material in a wastewater. In the case of biodegradable organics,

the COD is normally in the range of 1.3 to 1.5 times the BOD. When the result of a COD test

is more than twice that of the BOD test, there is good reason to suspect that a significant

portion of the organic material in the sample is not biodegradable by ordinary

microorganisms. As a side note, it is important to be aware that the sample vial resulting from

a COD test can contain leachable mercury above regulatory limits. If such is the case, the

sample must be managed as a toxic hazardous waste.

METHODOLGY (Ayza Nazira)

Apparatus

• COD Vials
• Spectrophotometer
• Pipet
• COD Reactor
• Test Tube Rack
Procedures

1. COD reactor is preheated to 150oC.

2. 100mL of sample is measured and put in a blender. The sample was blended for 30 seconds
or until homogenized.
3. The homogenized sample is poured into a 250-mL beaker and stirred slowly with a
magnetic stir plate.
4. Step 2 and 3 is ignored if the sample does not have any suspended solids.
5. COD vials are prepared and the caps from vials are removed.
6. COD vial is held at 45 degree. 0.3 mL of water sample is added into vial by using pipet.
This sample is labelled as prepared sample.
7. The vials are capped tightly and wiped with clean paper towel.
8. Vials are hold by the cap and inverted several times to mix.
9. The vials are placed in preheated COD reactor and the protective lid is then closed.
10. The vials are heated for 2 hours then cooled for 20 minutes.
11. The vials are inverted several times and placed into a rack. These vials are left to cool to
room temperature.
12. By using spectrophotometer (unit mg/L COD), COD of water samples is determined by
using appropriate program code number.
13. Step 5 to 12 is repeated using deionized water to the determine the reagent blank values.
14. Step 5 to 12 is also repeated for the remaining 2 other samples.
15. The results were tabulated in a table.
RESULT (Muhamad Aiman)

CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD)

Type of sample Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Average value

(mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L)
Raw 230 200 118 182.67
4 hr 240 120 54 136.67
24 hr 60 46 33 46.33
48 hr 38 32 18 29.33

Table 3 shows result for 3 different sampling locations.

CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND

182.67

136.67
COD (mg/L)

46.33
29.33

Period (hr)

Graph shown the concentration of COD (mg/L) respect to period.

DISCUSSION ( Intan Zaharah)

Chemical Oxygen Demand ( COD) is a measure of the water's capacity to absorb oxygen
during organic matter decomposition and the oxidation of inorganic chemicals such as
ammonia and nitrate. COD tests are usually conducted on wastewater samples or natural
waters polluted by domestic or industrial waste. In the experiment the concentration of COD
was determined in water samples.

Since the COD test tests the oxygen requirement of organic compounds in a water sample, it
is crucial that no external organic material is accidentally added to the sample to be tested, as
it can give false results. Oxidizable inorganic materials may be interfering with COD
determination. Dichromate can oxidize them and give erroneously high COD results:
chlorides are often the most severe source of interference. The COD check may also interact
with nitrites, sulfides, and disulfides, sulfites, thiosulfates, and ferrous ions.

Parameter Limits of Effluent of standard A and B have been referred to in this experiment to
analyze the result. This parameter was set by Malaysia Environmental Quality. Effluent
discharged upstream of a water supply intake should comply with Standard A, whereas
effluent discharged downstream must meet Standard B.Standards for the quality of effluent
discharged from treatment plants into receiving waters have been established. These take the
form of acceptable upper limits for various contaminants from the effluents. In laboratories,
effluents from treatment plants are regularly sampled and tested to ensure that these standards
are met, and treatment plants are operated correctly.

There were three COD vials prepared based on that experiment. As a result, Sample 1
displayed the highest COD value of 230 / l amongst these samples, while Sample 2 and
Sample 3 reached 200 mg / l and 118 mg / l at 4 hours respectively. These show that the
samples prepared had been totally contaminated. All samples were not suitable for daily
routine use, as referred to in the standard. It because the COD values of the samples was
greater than 50 mg / l for standard A and 100 mg / l for standard B.

All samples were passed standard B at 24 hours, meaning that the COD value of all samples
was below 100mg / l. Next, only one sample with a COD value was not passed standard A at
60mg / l, since the value of COD was higher than 50mg / l. For samples 2 and 3 the COD
value was respectively 46mg / l and 33mg / l. For both samples it was suitable to use
particularly for drinking water for daily routine. All samples at 48hours display a COD value
below 50mg / l. This means that all samples passed standard A and standard B. Sample
values 1 , 2 and 3 are 38 mg / l, 32 mg / l and 18 mg / l respectively. All samples were
pleasant to drink and free from all harmful organism, chemical substance and radionudides in
amounts, which could constitute a hazard to the health of the consumer.

Finally, the value of COD increases when the amount of pollutant in surface water increases
because it contains ammonia in surface water that can be of organic origin, the product of
decomposition of plant and animal matter or of inorganic origin, formed as a result of
chemical or biochemical nitrate and nitrite reduction. Ammonia is a highly unstable
compound, and is easily nitrified. Ammonia is an indicator of soil, water , and waste
contamination.
CONCLUSION ( Muhamad Harith Haiqal bin Yusuff)

In environmental chemistry, the COD test is commonly used to indirectly measure the
amount of organic compounds in water. Most applications of COD determine the amount of
organic pollutants found in surface water (e.g. lakes and rivers), making COD a useful measure
of water quality. It is expressed in milligrams per litre (mg/L), which indicates the mass of
oxygen consumed per litre of solution.

By colour observation, after being pre-heated 150-degree celcius and left to cool, the
darker the orange colour, the greater the COD value. Therefore, the larger the amount of
organic matter in the water sample. The average COC value is indirectly proportional to the
period in hours. Based on the Malaysia Sewage and Industrial Effluent Discharge Standards
the sample average value at period 24 hours and 48 hours passed the Standard A (50 mg/L).
While sample average value at period at 4 hours and Raw has surpassed Standard B (100 mg/L)
which is simply unacceptable. The final value of average COD shows that the capacity to
consume oxygen during the decomposition of organic matter and the oxidation of the inorganic
matter was low for the water sample tested.

The results also shows that the water sample was clean and suitable to use in daily
routine including for drinking water. On the other hand, high amount of COD encourages the
growing of the organisms in the water and cause the contamination to become worse if the
water did not being treat early. The experiment concludes that the wastewater treatment built
up in order to treat water from various sources such as river and lake before the water being
delivered and used by the consumers. Therefore, every industrial waste must be treated well
before released the wastewater to the river. Water sources on the Earth must be used and
preserved well because water still needed for long term.
APPENDIX ( Intan Zaharah )
Figure 1 & 2: Apparatus of COD experiment and standards A and B