Determining the BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) in a Sample of Waste Water

Experiment 5

Zahraa M. Ghanem
ID: 113052
Introduction:
Biochemical Oxygen Demand, BOD, as it is commonly abbreviated, is one of the most
important and useful parameters (measured characteristics) indicating the organic strength of
a wastewater. BOD measurement permits an estimate of the waste strength in terms of the
amount of dissolved oxygen required to break down the wastewater. The BOD test is one of
the most basic tests used in the wastewater field. It is essentially a measure of the biological
and the chemical component of the waste in terms of the dissolved oxygen needed by the
natural aerobic biological systems in the wastewater to break down the waste under defined
conditions. In the presence of free oxygen, aerobic bacteria use the organic matter found in
wastewater as “food”. The BOD test is an estimate of the “food” available in the sample.
The more “food” present in the waste, the more Dissolved Oxygen (DO) will be required.
Generally the BOD test is carried out by determining the dissolved oxygen on the wastewater
or a diluted mixture at the beginning of the test period, incubating the wastewater mixture at
20°C, and determining the dissolved oxygen at the end of 5 days. The difference in dissolved
oxygen between the initial measurement and the fifth day measurement represents the
biochemical oxygen demand. The BOD test is used to measure waste loads to treatment
plants, determine plant efficiency (in terms of BOD removal), and control plant processes. It
is also used to determine the effects of discharges on receiving waters. A major disadvantage
of the BOD test is the amount of time (5 days) required to obtain the results.
When a measurement is made of all oxygen consuming materials in a sample, the result is
termed “Total Biochemical Oxygen Demand” (TBOD), or often just simply “Biochemical
Oxygen Demand” (BOD). Because the test is performed over a five day period, it is often
referred to as a “Five Day BOD”, or a BOD5.
In many biological treatment plants, the facility effluent contains large numbers of nitrifying
organisms which are developed during the treatment process. These organisms can exert an
oxygen demand as they convert nitrogenous compounds (ammonia and organic nitrogen) to
more stable forms (nitrites and nitrates). At least part of this oxygen demand is normally
measured in a five day BOD.
Self-purification aspects of rivers were given strong consideration when BOD standards were
established for these water bodies. Waters having a BOD of less than 1 mg/l can be relatively
un-impacted by humans and primary candidates for conservation. About 31.4%, 29.9% and
13.8% of drinking water sources in Japan, have BOD values less than 1 mg/l, 2 mg/l and 3
mg/l, respectively. If BOD exceed 3 mg/l, it affects coagulation and rapid sand-filtration
processes conventional water treatment plants, requiring expensive advanced water treatment.
Therefore, BOD standards are set at 2 and 3 mg/l, respectively, for alass 2 and 3 waters.
For class I fisheries, BOD is set at less than 1 mg/l, since oligosaprobic fishes such as salmon
and smelt require water with a BOD less than 2 mg/l. For class II fisheries, BOD is set at less
than 2 mg/l, since mesoprobic fish such as carp require water with a BOD less than 3 mg/l.
For class III fisheries, BOD is set at less than 3 mg/l, since class III fisheries require water
with a BOD less than 5 mg/l. For class E, conservation of environment, BOD is set at less
than 10mg/l to prevent odor caused by the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter.
While BOD describes the biological oxidation capacity of a wastewater, it is not a measure of
the total potential oxidation of the organic compounds present in the wastewater. A number
of chemical tests are used to measure this parameter, either in terms of the oxygen required
for virtually complete oxidation, or in terms of the element carbon. Probably the most
common test for estimating industrial wastewater strength is the Chemical Oxygen Demand
(COD) Test. This test essentially measures the chemical oxidation of the wastewater by a
strong oxidizing agent in an acid solution. The value for the COD test is always greater than
the BOD test and is not always a good indication of BOD values for the same waste.

A test which measures carbon and which is being used to a greater extent in measuring
wastewater strength is the TOC (Total Organic Carbon) test where the carbon is oxidized by
catalytic combustion to carbon dioxide and the carbon dioxide is measured.

Experiment Objective:
Our objective in this experiment is to measure the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by
the bacteria feed on organic matters in the waste water sample.

Equipment and Apparatus:

1. Beakers
2. Source for bacteria ( rotten bread )
3. Three Flasks
4. Magnetic Hot Plate Stirrer
5. Three samples of water (Distillate, 2.5 ml wastewater and 5ml wastewater).
6. Incubator
7. Pipette
8. D.O Meter (Dissolved Oxygen Meter)

Dissolved Oxygen Meter

Experiment Procedure:
1. Place a large beaker filled with distillate water on the magnetic hot plate stirrer to allow
oxygen intake into the water sample.
2. Set 6 samples each in a separate flask (A1,A2,B1,B2,C1,C2)
3. Sample C1 and C2 is pure distilled water with no bacteria and considered as a reference
sample. Flask should be filled until overflows to prevent further oxygen into sample.
4. Put 2.5ml of wastewater in two flasks named A1 and A2 and fill both flasks also to the
top. Put another 5 ml of wastewater in two flasks named B1 and B2, which should also
get filled to the top until overflows.
5. Using the D.O meter, measure the amount of oxygen in samples A1, B1, C1 and note
them down. (Take an average of three)
6. Place the other three samples in an incubator set at 20OC and use as the dark place. Leave
the samples for a week.
7. Measure the amount of oxygen in each sample using the D.O meter. Note down results.
(Take an average of three)
8. Using the results obtained in step 5 and step 6, calculate the BOD.

Results and calculation:

The following table shows the readings for samples A1, B1 and C1:

Samples A1 B1 C1
Dissolved oxygen (mg O / L) 4.3 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.35 4.35
5
Average value (mg O/ L) 4.35 4.4 4.35

The following table shows the readings for samples A2, B2 and C2:
sample A2 B2 C2
Dissolved oxygen(mg O/L) 0.1 0.05 1.49
Using previous results and substituting in the following equation, BOD can be obtained:

( D . Oi−D .O f )−(Bi−Bf )
BOD=
D. F

Where:

 D.Oi = Dissolved Oxygen after preparation

 D.Of = Dissolved Oxygen after 7 days
 Bi = Blank Sample after preparation
 Bf = Blank Sample after 7 days
 D.F = Diluted Factor which is the amount of wastewater (that contains bacteria) over the rest
of the total volume bottle (flask)

1. Sample A (containing 2.5ml of wastewater)

2.5
D . F= =0.00833
300

( 4.35−0.1 ) −(4.35−1.49)
BOD=
0.00833

BOD=166.867 mg/l

2. Sample B (containing 5ml of wastewater)

5
D . F= =0.0167
300

( 4.4−0.05 )−(4.35−1.49)
BOD=
0.0167

BOD=89.22mg /l
Conclusions:
It is found that the higher percentage of waste water in the sample the higher BOD values
obtained which makes sense because this means increasing the number of wastes the bacteria
feed in and decreasing the oxygen percentage, for the two samples we have the BOD in
nearly doubled for doubling the waste water volume

References:
http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/ENV149/bod.htm
http://www.fivecreeks.org/monitor/bod.shtml
http://www.pollution-ppm.co.uk/parameter-bod-biological-oxygen-demand.asp
http://www.emecs.or.jp/01cd-rom/section_3_e/sec3_a_ro_b_6_e.html
http://www.eutechinst.com/pdt-type-portables-standard-do110.html