FACULTY OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

WATER RESOURCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING LAB

SHORT REPORT

SUBJECT CODE BFC3121

CODE & EXPERIMENT MA3- BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND
TITLE
COURSE CODE 3-BFF
EXPERIMENT DATE 9TH MARCH 2011
NAME OF STUDENT JOYCE TEO SUET HUI (AF080293)
NO. OF GROUP GROUP 8
NAME OF GROUP 1.NIRMALA AP NAWASIWAYAM (AF080305)
2.SIEW KIN WAH (AF080310)
MEMBERS
3.LIONG LOONG HING (AF080309)
4. NURSYAHIDAH BINTI SAEDON (AF080191)
5.
NAME OF LECTURER/ MISS NOOR AKHMAZILLAH BT MOHD FAUZI
TUTOR/TRAINER PUAN FIDAH BT HAMDAN
MISS FAZLIANI BT MOHD KUSIN
DATE OF SUBMISSION 16TH MARCH 2011
MARK DISCIPLINE/PARTICIPITATION /15%
RESULT /25%
DATA ANALYSIS /30%
DISCUSSION /30%
TOTAL /100%
EXAMINER’S COMMENT APPROVAL RECEIVE
 KOD ETIKA PELAJAR
(KEP)
JAB. KEJ. SUMBER AIR & ALAM SEKITAR
FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN AWAM & ALAM SEKITAR
UTHM

Saya dengan ini mengaku bahawa saya telah menyediakan laporan ini dengan daya usaha saya
sendiri. Saya juga mengaku tidak menerima atau memberi sebarang bantuan dalam menyediakan
laporan ini dan membuat ikrar ini dengan kepercayaan bahawa apa-apa yang tersebut di
dalamnya adalah benar.

___________________________
Tandatangan Pelajar

Nama : JOYCE TEO SUET HUI

No. Matrik : AF080293

Tarikh : 16TH MARCH 2011

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Microorganisms such as bacteria are responsible for decomposing organic waste. When organic
matter such as dead plants, leaves, grass clippings, manure, sewage, or even food waste is present in a
water supply, the bacteria will begin the process of breaking down this waste. When this happens, much
of the available dissolved oxygen is consumed by aerobic bacteria, robbing other aquatic organisms of the
oxygen they need to live. Biochemical oxygen demand or BOD is a procedure to determine the amount of
oxygen consumed by the microorganisms in the waste water chemically. It is commonly used as the
indicator to show the cleanliness of the waste water.
2.0 OBJECTIVE

To measure the amount of dissolved oxygen in the waste water for a specified period of time and
temperature.

3.0 THEORY

BOD is defined as the amount of oxygen required by living organisms in the stabilization of the
organic matter of water. If the oxidation of an organic compound is carried out by microorganisms using
the organic matter as a food source, the oxygen is consumed. The greater the amount of organic matter
present, the greater the amount of oxygen utilized. The BOD test is indirect measurement of organic
matter. Since the test is performed over a five day period, it is often refferred as five day BOD (BOD 5).
It is generally assumed that the rate at which oxygen is consumed directly proportional to the
concentration of degradable organic matter remaining at any time. Different result would be obtained at
different temperatures because biochemical reaction rates are temperature-dependent. The kinetics of the
BOD reaction are, for particle purposes, formulated in accordance with first-order reaction kinetics and
may be expressed as
dL / dt = - kLt
where, Lt is the amount of the first stage BOD remaining in the water at time t and k is the reaction rate
constant. 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 20 oc. Most of the
biological process sprrd 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.

4.0 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

5.0 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 20 oc.
9. The final DO is recorded after 5 days of the experiment for both bottles.

6.0 RESULTS AND CALCULATION

Sample:
pH : 6.61
Source : Drainage in front of Golf court

BOD Data table.

Date / Time Started: 08 / 2 / 2011
Sample of 5ml of wastewater
INITIAL DO FINAL DO
BLANK 10.55 mg/l 10.4 mg/l
SAMPLE 10.56 mg/l 8.76 mg/l

5 ml
Dilution factor, P = 300 ml

Sample of 10ml of wastewater

INITIAL DO FINAL DO
BLANK 10.39 mg/l 10.2 mg/l
SAMPLE 10.26 mg/l 6.73 mg/l

10 ml
Dilution factor, P = 300 ml

7.0 DATA ANALYSIS

7.1 Calculate the BOD

                                                   
BOD, mg/L= D1 – D2
P
 10 .56−8.76
Sample of 5ml wastewater : BOD5, mg/L = (5÷300)
= 108 mg/L
10 .26−6.73
Sample of 10ml wastewater : BOD5, mg/L = (10÷300)
= 105.9 mg/L

7.2 Show all the calculation and state if any of the data needs to thrown out.

BOD = DO initial –DO final

1) DO5 Blank of 5ml wastewater = 10.55 – 10.40
= 0.15 the value is less than 0.2 mg/L
The value of BOD is 8.8 mg/L
Data no needs to thrown out

2) DO5 Blank of 10ml wastewater = 10.39 – 10.2

= 0.19 the value is less than 0.2 mg/L
The value of BOD is 5.76 mg/L
Data no needs to thrown out

7.3 The dilution water blank cannot deplete more than 0.2 mg/L. Was this criteria met?

The BOD blank did not show a DO depletion of more than 0.2 mg/L after the five day incubation
period. A drop of more than 0.2 mg/L indicates some type of contamination or calibration error.
So the criterion is met.

7.4 Does you sample shows a toxic effect?

The sample is not showing any toxic effect, it is because the waste water, took from a drainage in
front of the Golf court is not from a toxic source. And the pH value of the sample is nearly neutral
and after our group use 5 mL of wastewater, the value of BOD obtained is slightly higher than
Group 9 which the sample size is 10 mL. It means that the sample doesn’t show any toxic effect.

The value of BOD at each group:

Group 8 : wastewater = 5 mL , BOD = 108 mg/L
Group 9 : wastewater = 10 mL , BOD = 105.9 mg/L

7.5 Could you rely on your BOD results? Why?

Yes, because the average BOD result is compared with the effluent standard (DOE, Malaysia).

By referring to Sewage/ Effluent Standard (DOE, Malaysia) could you sample be discharge
to river untreated? If not, suggest the associated treatment for BOD removal.

According to the Sewage/Effluent Standard (DOE, Malaysia), the sample cannot be discharge to
the river untreated because the value obtained with 5 ml of wastewater is higher than 50 mg/1.
8.0 DISCUSSION

Question 1

a) Calculate the min / max volume of sample to be added to prepare as estimated BOD.

For example, suppose that estimated BOD of an influent sample is 400mg/L. The D.O. of
saturated dilution water is approximately 8.0mg/L. D.O. depletion to be at least 2.0mg/L after 5
days of incubation and the residual D.O. to be at least 1.0mg/L.

Sample Water, mL = (min/max allowable depletion, mg/L) x (vol of BOD bottle, mL)
Estimated BOD, mg/L

Sample waterminimum, mL = 2 mg/L x 300 mL = 1.5 mL

400 mg/L

Max allowable depletion = (Sat D.O. concentration) – (Min residual concentration)

= (8.0 – 1.0) mg/L
= 7.0 mg/L

Sample watermaximum , mL = 7 mg/L x 300 mL = 5.25 mL

400 /L

b) Why must samples that containing cautic alkalinity or acidity be adjusted before preparing
BOD 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 time
the 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 4⁰C during compositing.

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’s
cap was using to reduce evaporation of the water seal during evaporation.

Question 2

a) Why must samples that containing residual chlorine be dechlorinated before preparation of
BOD 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 pH
variations?

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.

Question 3

a) State the formula to calculate

i) seed correction
BOD5 of seed material x volume of sample
Seed correction =
300

ii) BOD5 (seeded)

BOD5 (mg/L) = [(D1 – D2) – (B1 – B2)f] / P

where ;
D1 = DO of diluted sample immediately after preparation, mg/L
D2 = DO of diluted sample after 5 days incubation at 20⁰C, mg/L
P = decimal volumetric fraction of sample used

b) Calculate the seed correction and BOD5 (seeded) for the data given as below
BOD5 of Seed Material 95 mg/L
Dilution #1 mL of seed material 2 mL
mL of sample 100 mL
Start D.O. 7.8 mg/L
Final D.O. 2.9 mg/L
 
BOD5 of seed material x volume of seed material
Seed correction =
300

95 x 2
= = 0.633 mg/L < 1.0 mg/L (ok!!!)
300

BOD5 (mg/L) = (D1 – D2) / P

= (7.8 – 2.9) / (2/100)
= 245 mg/L
Question 4

a) 30 mL of wastewater are placed in a 300 mL BOD bottle. The sample is diluted to fill the
bottle. The DO concentrations at the beginning and the end of 5-day incubation period are
7.3 mg/L and 1.8 mg/L respectively. What is the BOD?
 DOi −DOf 7.3 – 1.8
BOD5= = =55 mg/ L
P 30 /300

b) The BOD5 of a wastewater was determined to be 250 mg/L. If the reaction coefficient was 0.23
l/d, calculate
i) ultimate BOD,
BODt =L0 (1−e−kt )

250
L0 = =365 mg/ L
1−e−(0.23)(5)

ii) BOD3 and

BODt =L0 (1−e−kt )

BOD3=365(1−e−(0.23 )(3) )=181.9 mg/ L

iii) BOD remaining at 3 days

= BOD at 8 days = BOD8

BOD8=365 (1−e−(0.23 )(8) )=307 mg/ L

Question 5

a) What is seeding process in BOD measurement?

Seeding is a process of adding live bacteria and microorganism to a sample. If the samples tested
contain materials which could kill or injure the microorganisms, the condition must be corrected
and healthy active organisms added.

b) Explain preparation of seed material.

Select a material to be used for seeding which will have a BOD of at least 180 mg/L. This will
help ensure that the seed correction meets the 0.6 mg/L minimum specified in “Standard
Methods”.
Place the material in a suitable container and incubate at 20°C for 24-36 hours. Usually, settled
raw domestic sewage prepared in the manner above will have sufficient BOD for use as a seed
material. If not, small quantities of digester supernatant, return activated sludge, or an
acclimated seed material can be used to increase the potency of the seed material used for the
test.
As an alternative, commercially available seed material may be used. The seed correction should
not exceed 1.0 mg/L BOD; therefore, care should be taken not to use too strong a seed
material for the test.
 The key to a good seed correction is a relatively stable seed material which produces a good seed
correction in every test situation

c) What materials can be used to seed a BOD sample?

Any source of water which can provide a suitable population of organisms can be used, however,
settled raw sewage or commercially prepared seed material are the most common sources.

Question 6

What is the significance of dissolved oxygen?

Dissolved oxygen allows animals to breathe in water and it provides a suitable habitat for the other
animals. Bacteria in the water also use this oxygen to break down animals and plants. The oxygen
level is not very high in most water sources. If the oxygen level is reduced, the animals begin to
die. It is also to maintaining the aquatic life and aesthetic quality of streams and lakes.

Question 7

a) With regard to precision, ten percent duplicate or replicate samples should be run. This
would result in one duplicate sample or one replicate sample being run every ten samples.
Differentiate replicate and duplicate sample.

 Replicates are two or more separate water samples collected in the field from the same site and
depth. Replicates are used to determine the errors involved in sample collection; if there are no
errors in the collection and analysis, and then the difference between two replicate analyses
indicates the natural variability in the water at that location.
 Duplicates are two [or more] lab analyses on the same water sample. Duplicates are used to
determine the % difference between two samples in order to estimate the error involved in the
analyses.

b) When are DO levels at their highest and their lowest and why?

DO levels are highest if the sample of water is not polluted means there is no toxic and bacterial
effect so in sample of water there is a lot of oxygen demanding wastes is well within self-
purification capacity. Otherwise, the BOD will low which is water sample not have microbes live.
Then DO levels low if sample water not have enough oxygen to dissolve in water that need to all
leaving things.

Extra Discussion

The BOD5 for both of 5ml and 10ml are more than 100 ml/g, which is not in the range of Standard
A and Standard B. Standard A (20mg/l) is the indicator for drinking water while Standard B (50 mg/l) is the
indicator for inland water quality. Hence, we can say that the water sample is quite polluted because the
location of the sample is the UTHM golf field. The golf field area is polluted because usually people use it
to do several types of activities. One of the example is convocation event that will be held every year. A
lot of food stalls and other business spot will be set up there. This make the drain water become polluted
as the users don’t handle the waste properly. The organic material come from the food will consume the
oxygen in the water due to the microbes’ activities. The consequence is the water polluted and the BOD 5
reading is high.
9.0 CONCLUSION

The water source at UTHM golf field has been polluted due to the incorrect handling of human
activities as the BOD5 reading is out of the Standard A and B. The recommendation to solve the problem
is to apply water treatment to the water source and to prevent incorrect handling of human activities at the
golf field.

10.0 APPENDIX
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT 1974 (ENVIRONMENTAL 
QUALITY (SEWAGE AND INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS)
REGULATIONS 1978
[Regulation 8 (1), 8 (2), 8 (3)]
PARAMETER LIMITS OF EFFLUENT OF STANDARDS A AND B
Parameter Unit Standard
    A B
       
Temperature C 40 40
pH Value   6.0 - 9.0 5.5 - 9.0
BODs at 20ºC mg/1 20 50
COD mg/1 50 100
Suspended Solids mg/1 50 100
Mercury mg/1 0.005 0.005
Cadmium mg/1 0.01 0.02
Chromium, Hexavaient mg/1 0.05 0.05
Arsenic mg/1 0.05 0.10
Cyanide mg/1 0.05 0.10
Lead mg/1 0.10 0.5
Chromium, Trivalent mg/1 0.20 1.0
Copper mg/1 0.20 1.0
Manganese mg/1 0.20 1.0
Nickel mg/1 0.20 1.0
Tin mg/1 0.20 1.0
Zinc mg/1 1.0 1.0
Borom mg/1 1.0 4.0
Iron (Fe) mg/1 1.0 5.0
Phenol mg/1 0.001 1.0
Free Chlorine mg/1 1.0 2.0
Sulphide mg/1 0.50 0.50
Oil and Grease mg/1 Not Detectable 10.0

11.0 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