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 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
(BOD5).
4.0 APPARATUS AND MATERIAL

1. 5 units 300 ml BOD Bottles

The ideal bottle for incubating diluted sample of sewage, sewage effluents,
polluted water and industrial wastes to determine the amount of oxygen.

Figure 3.1
2. Incubator, capable of maintaining 20 1 C
To maintains the optimal temperature, humidity and other conditions.

Figure 3.2
3. 100 ml beaker
The simple container for stirring, mixing, and heating the liquid.

Figure 3.3
4. 100 ml graduated cylinder
 For measuring the volumes (amounts) of liquids.
Figure 3.4

5. 2 units 25 ml meaning pipettes.

For transferring or measuring out small quantities of liquid

Figure 3.5
6. DO meter
To measure the amount of dissolve oxygen in the liquid.

Figure 3.6

7. pH meter
 to measure the hydrogen-ion concentration or pH value in a solution, indicating
its acidity or alkalinity.
Figure 3.7

8. Phosphate Buffer
Dissolve 8.5 g KH2PO4, 21.7 g K2HPO4, 33.4g Na2HPO4, and 1.7g NH4Clin
deionized water. Adjust pH to 7.2, if necessary, with either 1 N H2SO4 or
NaOH. Dilute to one liter.

9. Magnesium Sulfate
Dissolve 22.5g MgSO4.7H2O and dilute to one liter

10. Calcium Chloride

Dissolve 27.5g CaCl2 and dilute to one liter.

11. Ferric Choloride

Dissolve 0.25g FeCl3.6H2O and dilute to one liter.
5.0 PROCEDURE

1. 500mL of waste water collected from Tasik Kemajuan (Tasik PKU) using plastic
containers.
2. The waste water was then tested by using pH meter. It was tested to be neutral. The
reading for the both pH and temperature were recorded in the Bench Sheet.
3. The sample was divided by using the meaning pipette. 2mL of sample poured into the
first, second and the third BOD Bottle. Then, BOD Bottle filled up with dilution water
with 300mL. The forth BOD Bottle filled up with dilution water and labeled as Blank.
4. The sample in the bottle is stirred with DO meter and placed into the bottle to get the
DO reading. 1 4 steps repeated for the second and the third BOD Bottle.

Figure 4.1
5. All the three BOD Bottle reading recorded in the Bench Sheet as initial DO.
6. The BOD Bottle placed into BOD incubator with temperature around 20 C.
7. The final DO taken after 5 days of the experiment for three bottles.
6.0 DATA ANALYSIS

1. Show all the calculation and state if any of the data needs to thrown out.
BOD1, DO depletion = DOi DOf = 8.51-7.08 = 1.43 mg/L
BOD5 = (1.43)/(3/300) = 143 mg/L

BOD2, DO depletion = DOi DOf = 8.45-7.27 = 1.18 mg/L

BOD5 = (1.18)/(3/300) = 118 mg/L

BOD3, DO depletion = DOi DOf = 8.48-6.67 = 1.81 mg/L

BOD5 = (1.81)/(3/300) = 181 mg/L

2. Does you sample shows a toxic effect?

Toxicity in BOD testing means the characteristic of a sample that causes it to
interfere with biochemical oxidation of organic materials during incubation. Toxic
materials present in the sample might spoil the biochemical process. Thus, proper test
to identify whether the waste water sample contains toxicity is needed in order to take
proper action to eliminate those toxicants. According to Standard Methods 5210B, if
the average of all BOD bottles that meet the criteria of 2.0 mg/L or more of dissolved
oxygen (DO) depleted with at least 1 mg/L DO retained, toxicity will not be occurred.
Since the sample(Sample 1 + Sample 2 + Sample 3) has average value of DO depleted
less than 2, thus the toxic effect is occur.

3. Could you rely on your BOD results? Why?

No. Because some errors were occurred. Although the sample is occur from
toxicity, the dilution water blank does not meet the requirement. The dilution water was
prepared and stored for some times without proper quality control before the
experiment. This caused growth of some biological that cannot be seen by naked eyes.
Existence of biological in the dilution water caused inaccuracy of the result. Moreover,
the waste water used in this experiment does not undergo pretreatment process. It may
contain dissolved heavy metal. The presence of heavy metal make the result obtained
may be different.
 4. Determine the pollution level of sample based on the BOD results?

The pollution level of BOD sample is low pollutant levels because the value of DO
level of sample is more than 0.2 mg/L after the five day incubation period.

5. Differentiate between seeded and unseeded BOD.

Seeded is refers to microorganisms that consume the biodegradable organic matter in
simple for BOD measurement. If not enough seed is present, all of the biodegradable
matter may not be consumed and results will not be accurate. For unseeded BOD, it is
refers to microorganisms that will make the BOD measurement false and not accurate.

7.0 DISCUSSION

The BOD5 for our sample is 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
PKU. The PKU area is polluted because all the water of UTHM will accumulated in
the pond before release it to the main stream. One of the example is stall at G3, their
workers disposed the wastewater to the drain. This make the drain water become
polluted as the users dont 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 BOD5 reading is high.
8.0 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the objective of the experiment is achieved. The experiment was

carried out to measure the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water for a specified
period of time and temperature. Normally, BOD5 will be used to determine the BOD
level in water. However, in this experiment, BOD3 is used instead of BOD5. By using
BOD3, the time of experiment can be shorten and the effect of experiment almost the
same with BOD5. Since the average BOD3 obtained from experiment is 147.3 mg/L so
that it can be concluded that the waste water from pond infront of PKU, UTHM has
been polluted. The higher BOD3 reading will result in lower DO level. When the DO
level is lower, this indicated that the water is unsuitable for living organisms. Besides,
this waste water cannot simply discharge to the river untreated. It must be treating first
by any possible treatment to make sure that water is safe and will not to be polluted to
the river.
REFERENCES

Parameter Unit Standard

A B
(1) (2) (3) (4)
o
(i) Temperature C 40 40
(ii) pH Value - 6.0-9.0 5.5-9.0
(iii) BOD at 20oC mg/L 20 50
(iv) Suspended Solids mg/L 50 100
(v) Mercury mg/L 0.005 0.05
(vi) Cadmium mg/L 0.01 0.02
(vii) Chromium, Hexavalent mg/L 0.05 0.05
(viii) Chromium, Trivalent mg/L 0.20 1.0
(ix) Arsenic mg/L 0.05 0.10
(x) Cyanide mg/L 0.05 0.10
(xi) Lead mg/L 0.10 0.5
(xii) Copper mg/L 0.20 1.0
(xiii) Manganese mg/L 0.20 1.0
(xiv) Nickel mg/L 0.20 1.0
(xv) Tin mg/L 0.20 1.0
(xvi) Zinc mg/L 2.0 2.0
(xvii) Boron mg/L 1.0 4.0
(xviii) Iron (Fe) mg/L 1.0 5.0
(xix) Silver mg/L 0.1 1.0
(xx) Aluminium mg/L 10 15
(xxi) Selenium mg/L 0.02 0.5
(xxii) Barium mg/L 1.0 2.0
(xxiii) Fluoride mg/L 2.0 5.0
(xxiv) Formaldehyde mg/L 1.0 2.0
(xxv) Phenol mg/L 0.001 1.0
(xxvi) Free Chlorine mg/L 1.0 2.0
(xxvii) Sulphide mg/L 0.50 0.50
(xxviii) Oil and Grease mg/L 1.0 10
(xxix) Ammoniacal Nitrogen mg/L 10 20
(xxx) Colour ADMI* 100 200
*ADMI-American Dye Manufacturers Institute