1 OBJECTIVE
This experiment was conducted to measure the five day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) of
samples of raw wastewater, treated wastewater, and Mānoa Stream water. This was
accomplished by measuring the difference between the initial and final dissolved oxygen (DO)
concentration in each sample after five days. Unfortunately, the data obtained during this
experiment was not consistent enough to be able to draw any real or meaningful conclusions
about the samples tested. The change in DO of the dilution water control samples needs to be
less than 0.2 mg/L to be acceptable for use in this experiment, however, the dilution water that
was used changed by an average of 0.75 mg/L. This piece of key data alone nullifies the rest of
our results.
2 INTRODUCTION
BOD is defined as the amount of oxygen required by living organisms in the stabilization of
theorganic matter of water. If the oxidation of an organic compound is carried out by
microorganisms usingthe organic matter as a food source, the oxygen is consumed. The greater
the amount of organic matterpresent, the greater the amount of oxygen utilized. The BOD test is
indirect measurement of organicmatter. Since the test is performed over a five day period, it is
often refferred as five day BOD (BOD5).It is generally assumed that the rate at which oxygen is
consumed directly proportional to theconcentration of degradable organic matter remaining at
any time. Different result would be obtained atdifferent temperatures because biochemical
reaction rates are temperature-dependent. The kinetics of theBOD reaction are, for particle
purposes, formulated in accordance with first-order reaction kinetics andmay be expressed asdL /
dt = - kLtwhere, Lt is the amount of the first stage BOD remaining in the water at time t and k is
the reaction rateconstant. This equation can be integrated as
ln Lt / L = - kt or
The amount of BOD remaining at time t equals Lt = L e-kt
and y the amount of BOD that has been exerted at any time t, equals BODt = L( 1 – e-kt )For
five day BOD (BOD5), the sample is kept in incubator which remains around 20oc. Most of the
biological process spred up as the temperature increase and slow down as the temperature drop.
The temperature of 20oc is standard temperature in lab and it is suitable for the bacteria active in
breaking down the waste.
BOD is an extremely important water quality parameter to measure. It represents the amount of
dissolved oxygen consumed by microorganisms during the decomposition of organic matter in a
sample, and is calculated as the initial DO concentration minus the final DO concentration over a
given period of time. Most commonly, the five day BOD (BOD5) is what is measured; the
reason for this is that the BOD test was first conducted in England, and there are no rivers in
England which take longer than five days to travel from source to estuary. A high BOD value
mean there is a lot of organic matter present in the sample and is common in wastewater. The
BOD of wastewater must be measured throughout the treatment process to ensure that the water
body it is being discharged into will maintain acceptable DO levels and the ecosystem can
survive. Typical BOD5values are 110-400 mg/L for raw wastewater, 5-15 mg/L for effluent, and
0 for an unpolluted river. The experiment is conducted by first placing a carefully measured
amount of each sample into 300 mL BOD bottles made from nonreactive glass with ground-glass
stoppers of the samples are then seeded with primary effluent to ensure that there is enough
bacteria present for the experiment to work. The seed is necessary if there is not enough bacteria
present in the sample to decompose the organic matter, as in treated or disinfected wastewater. A
control sample of the seed is also tested for BOD5so that its effect on the measurements can be
accounted for in the final calculations. After seeding each sample, the BOD bottle is filled almost
to the top with dilution water and the DO is measured with a DO meter. The DO meter consists
of a probe and a microammeter; the current measured by the microammeter is proportional to the
dissolved oxygen concentration in the sample. The DO probe and meter is a galvanic cell,
consisting of an anode and a cathode in an electrolyte solution with a microammeter to measure
current between them, separated from the sample by an oxygen-permeable membrane. The
membrane allows an amount of oxygen through to the electrodes to react and produce the
measured current in proportion to the dissolved oxygen in the sample. Once the initial DO is
measured for each sample, the ground-glass stopper is put on.
APPARATUS AND MATERIAL
a. Beaker
b. 2 Bottles
c. Waste water
d. Measuring cylinder
e. Deionised water
f. Pipettes
g. pH Meter
h. Magnetic stirrer
i. DO meter
j. BOD incubator
PROCEDURES
1. 100ml of waste water is collected from a specified source using a beaker.
2. The waste water is then tested by using pH meter. It is tested to be neutral. The readings for
both pH and temperature are recorded in the Bench Sheet.
3. The sample is then divided by using measuring cylinder. (Group 8 = 5ml; Group 9 = 10ml.)
4. The sample is poured into the first bottle and deionized water is added until 300ml.
5. The second bottle is prepared by pouring the 300ml of deionized water into the bottle.
6. A magnetic stirrer is then added into these two bottles respectively. The sample in bottle is
stirred whilst the DO meter is put into the bottle to get the DO reading. Same procedure for the
second bottle.
7. The readings of DO for both bottles are recorded in the Bench Sheet as initial DO.
8. The bottles are kept in the BOD incubator and remain around 20oc.
9. The final DO is recorded after 5 days of the experiment for both bottles.
DISCUSSION
Why must samples that containing cautic alkalinity or acidity be adjusted before
preparingBOD dilution?
To conduct BOD experiment, the BOD dilution must be natural which range between pH values
of 6.5 to 7.5 because microbes are most active in this range oh pH value. c) The completed
composite samples arrive in the lab at (e.g.).
What is the latest day and timethe sample can be started for BOD?
The sample must be prepared not more than 24 hours. If it is begin within 2 hours of
collection ,cold storage is unnecessary but, if the test will begin within more than 2 hours, the
sample must keep at or below 4 C during compositing.⁰
d) Describe the function of BOD bottle’s cap and seal water
.BOD’s seal water was using to ensure that no air bubble is trapped in the bottle that will affect
the characteristics of sample. It is also to prevent further oxygen dissolving in. Otherwise,
bottle’scap was using to reduce evaporation of the water seal during evaporation.
Question 2a)
Why must samples that containing residual chlorine be dechlorinated before preparation
ofBOD dilutions?
To determine valuable of bacterial source. Chlorine can kill the microbes live and bacteria in
samples.
b) What reagents are required to chemically dechlorinate a BOD sample?
Sulphuric acid solution or acetic acid solution, potassium iodide solution, sodium sulphite
(Na2SO3)
.c) What must be done to samples, which have been dechlorinated or adjusted
for pHvariations?
The samples which have been dechlorinated must be seeded with 300mL of BOD water in the
BOD bottle before allows it store in the BOD incubator
REFERENCES
1) Introduction to Environment Engineering, Third Edition / Davis Cornwell / Mc Graw Hill
2) Environment Engineering / Gerard Kiely / Mc Graw Hill
3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolved_oxygen
4) http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/dipproj2/en/fieldbook/bod.shtml
