HACETTEPE UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Engineering

Department of Environmental Engineering

CEV207 – Environmental Chemistry Laboratory

Res.Assist. Emine Çağla ÇİLİNGİR

Experiment Name; Dissolved oxygen (DO) and Biochemical oxygen demand

(BOD analysis)

6th Group

Emel Özdemir / 21532625

17/11/17
ABSTRACT

Water has great importance for environmental engineering. This is why water treatment and
to make the water less harmful is part of this engineering work. The BOD is one of the most
significant parameters in the measurement of water quality. Wastewater contains organic
matter. These organic substances oxidize and cause oxygen to be consumed. The value of the
spent oxygen is measured by the oxitop method. The BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) and
Lo (constant) value was calculated to be 95,33 mg / L and 98,48 mg/L. We have interpreted
these values in the result and discussions section of the report.

Grading Table
1. İntroduction and Objective

There are organic substances in the wastewater that can not be calculated by the existing
measurement techniques and in different concentrations. Rather than measuring these
separately, the amount of oxygen needed is determined by the BOD assay as a result of
biochemical separations in the aerobic medium, and this amount is used as a parameter.
Bacteria placed in contact with organic materials will utilize it as a food source in the
utilization the organic material will be oxidized to CO2 H2O. BOD is considered to be the
measure of the organic content of the waste, the BOD determination has been done by
measuring the amount of oxygen utilized by the micro-organic has in the stabilization of
wastewater for 5 days at 20 οC. Samples of domestic wastewater do not normally require
seeding with bacteria. They can be used directly as the measurement solution. Mostly,
municipal wastewaters contain sufficient nutrients, minerals and trace elements for the
optimum degradation of the carbon compounds. The wastewater treatment plant operator
must consider suitable measures such as e.g dosing individual substances in sufficient
amounts.

The aim is to try to measure the BOD by the oxidative method. It is expected to find L by
using the graph with the obtained values. This experiment also helped me to understand the
importance of the BOD parameter in water treatment.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1 What is the BOD?

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is usually defined as the amount of oxygen required
by bacteria while stabilizing decomposable organic matter under aerobic conditions. The term
"decomposable" may be interpreted as meaning that the organic matter can serve as food for
the bacteria, and energy is derived from its oxidation. (Figure 2.1)

The BOD test is widely used to determine the pollutional strength of domestic and industrial
wastes in terms of the oxygen that they will require if discharged into natural watercourses in
which aerobic conditions exist. The test is one of the most important in stream pollution
control activities. This test is of prime importance in regulatory work and in studies designed
to evaluate the purification capacity of receiving bodies of water.[1]

Figure 2.1 ; Bacteria and organic matter [2]

 The BOD test may be considered as a wet oxidation procedure in which the living
organisms serve as the medium for oxidation of the organic matter to carbon dioxide and
water. A quantitative relationship exists between the amount of oxygen required to convert a
definite amount of any given organic compound to carbon dioxide, water, and ammonia, and
this can be represented by the following general equation: [1]

2.2 BOD Effects on Aquatic Life

Consumers like fish and other aquatic animals eat some of the producers, and the nutrients
move up the food chain. When these organisms die, bacteria decompose the organic
compounds and release into the water inorganic nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate, calcium,
and others. Some of these nutrients end up downstream or in sediments, but most of them
recycle again and again. Most of the bacteria in the aquatic water column are aerobic. That
means that they use oxygen to perform their metabolic activities of decomposition. Remember
that under normal conditions, dissolved oxygen exists in very low concentrations. Natural
levels of oxygen in aquatic systems are always somewhat depleted by normal levels of
aerobic bacterial activity. In most cases, if dissolved oxygen concentrations drop below 5
parts per million (ppm), fish will be unable to live for very long. All clean water species such
as trout or salmon will die well above this level and even low oxygen fish such as catfish and
carp will be at risk below 5 ppm.[3] (Figure 2.2)

Figure 2.2 ; BOD and aquatic life[4]

2.3 Oxitop Method

Basically, respirometric measurement using theOxiTop ® system is nothing more than a

small-scale wastewater treatment plant, poured into a bottle and operated in the absence of air.

All of the oxygen required for consumption comes from the graduated measuring flask.
This includes not only the dissolved oxygen but also oxygen from the gas phase (air above the
measurement solution). The partial oxygen pressure, i.e. the amounts of oxygen in the
aqueous phase and in the gaseous phase, are balanced. Constantvigorous stirring ensures a
good exchange of gas between the two phases. The material needed for the mixing process is
the magnetic stirrer bars. The magnetic stirrer bar that is designed especially for the bottles so
that they provide optimum mixing of the sample.Smaller or larger stirrer bars, or even other
shapes, do not necessarily ensure that the sample is completely mixed. Other materials used in
the oxitope method are nitrification inhibitor, rubber sleeve, sodium hydroxide pellets and
stirring platform.[5]

3. Materials and Apparatus

Sample (Figure 3.1)

BOD bottle (Figure 3.1)

Nitrification Inhibitor

Sodium Hydroxide (Figure 3.2)

Rubber sleeve

Incubator

Magnetic stirrer bar

Graduated Cylinder (Figure 3.1)

Stirring platform
Figure 3.1

4. Procedure

The amount to be taken according to the sample concentration was determined. (Table 4.1)

From the sample, 365 mL was taken using a graduated cylinder.

The magnetic stirrer bar was thrown into the BOD bottle.

The sample was transferred from a graduated cylinder to BOD bottles.

7 drops of inhibitor were dropped and 2 sodium hydroxide were placed in the rubber sleeve.

This process was repeated 2 more times.

3 BOD bottles were placed in the stirring platform.

The incubator is set to be dark and 20 οC and bottles were put in the incubator. (Figure 4.1)
Figure 4.1; Bottles are in incubator

Table 4.1; Factor and sample volume (mL) according to concentration.

5. Calculations & Evaluation of Data

Table 5.1 ; Results by days

Set 1 Set 2 Set 3

1st Day 19 18 20
2nd Day 35 34 30
3rd Day 45 44 42
4th Day 48 48 46
5th Day 48 48 47
5.1 For Set 1

Table 5.2 ; BOD and other values according to the set 1

y (mg/L) t (day) dy dt dy/dt ln(dy/dt)

0 0
38 1 70 2 35 3.555
70 2 42 2 21 3.045
90 3 26 2 13 2.565
96 4 6 2 3 1.099
96 5

Slope = - k = -0.806

k=0.806

y = Lo ( 1 - e-k.t )

BOD5 = Lo ( 1 - e-k.t )

96 = Lo ( 1 - e-0.806.5 )

Lo = 97.73 mg/L
5.2 For Set 2

Table 5.3 ; BOD and other values according to the set 2

y (mg/L) t (day) dy dt dy/dt ln(dy/dt)

0 0

36 1 68 2 34 3.526
68 2 52 2 26 3.258
88 3 28 2 14 2.639
96 4 8 2 4 1.386

96 5

Slope = - k = -0.703

k=0.703

y = Lo ( 1 - e-k.t )

BOD5 = Lo ( 1 - e-k.t )

96 = Lo ( 1 - e-0.703.5 )

Lo = 98.94 mg/L
5.3 For Set 3

Table 5.4 ; BOD and other values according to the set 3

y (mg/L) t (day) dy dt dy/dt ln(dy/dt)

0 0

40 1 60 2 30 3.401
60 2 44 2 22 3.091
84 3 32 2 16 2.772
92 4 10 2 5 1.609
94 5

Slope = - k = -0.606

k = 0.606

y = Lo ( 1 - e-k.t )

BOD5 = Lo ( 1 - e-k.t )

94 = Lo ( 1 - e-0.606.5 )

Lo = 98.77 mg/L
5.4 Avarage BOD5 and Lo Value

Avarage BOD5 (mg/L) = (S1+S2+S3) / 3 = 95,33 mg/L

S1 = BOD5 value for Set 1, 96 mg/L

S2 = BOD5 value for Set 2, 96 mg/L

S3 = BOD5 value for Set 3, 94 mg/L

Avarage Lo (mg/L) = (L1+L2+L3) / 3 = 98.48 mg/L

L1 = Lo value for Set 1, 97.73 mg/L

L2 = Lo value for Set 2, 98.94 mg/L

L3 = Lo value for Set 3, 98.77 mg/L

6. Result and Discussion

The BOD value of the sample was measured as 95.33 mg / L. Oxidation method was used
for the measurement. We derived a graph from the measured BOD values. The graph gave us
k (slope) value. We reached the L value by using the general equation and our data. We have
seen that L values differ according to k (slope) values.

All highly organized organisms need oxygen to survive. Most of the oxygen contained in
the water comes from the atmosphere, and a small part comes from the digestion of plants and
small plant cells floating freely in the water. Oxygen is consumed by animals by respiration,
by plants in the dark, and by bacteria that cause organic matter to break down. This oxygen
consumed in water must be recovered. If oxygen is not recovered, there are very dangerous
consequences for fish. Wastewater with high BOD discharged into the rivers is an enormous
nutrient source for bacteria. Bacteria use oxygen to turn these foods into energy. The oxygen
in the environment decreases in proportion to the amount of food. The decreasing amount of
oxygen is dangerous to many living creatures in the water. From this information, we can say,
"Water with high BOD content means water with a low amount of dissolved oxygen."

Table 6.1; Water Quality Classes[6]

Parameter/ I II III IV
Classes
BOD( mg/L) 4 8 20 >20

If we compare the BOD values we find with the values in the table, according to the water
regulations in Turkey, we have 4th grade water quality. In this case, what you need to do is
refine it to reduce BOD.
7.Conclusion

I found out that the BOD value should be measured in dark conditions at 5 days and at 20 °
C under constant conditions. There are 2 reasons to measure in 5 days. Of these, 80% of the
oxygen in the sample is used in the first 5 days. The other reason is that after the 5th day the
nitrite and nitrate bacteria enter the circuit by decreasing the nutrient concentration. At the end
of 20 days, the demand for carbon and nitrification is measured. But we are only interested in
carbon demand with this experiment. So, at the end of the fifth day, we read the values on the
oxytocons. We calculated the average bod value as 95.33 mg / L.

References

1-) Sawyer Clair, McCarty Perry, Parkin Gene, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Chemistry for
Environmental Engineering and Science, (5th Edition), 604-605

2-)https://tr.scribd.com/document/258792574/BOD-Determin

3-)http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality1/1-bod-effects-on-water-
quality.htm

4-)https://image.slidesharecdn.com/water-pollution-and-treatment-1234887888240184-
1/95/water-pollution-and-treatment-33-728.jpg?cb=1234866315

5-) https://tr.scribd.com/document/258792574/BOD-Determin

6-) https://www.google.com.tr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ua
ct=8&ved=0ahUKEwjP_datxsXXAhVSIewKHXnQCAwQFggzMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2F
www.megep.meb.gov.tr%2Fmte_program_modul%2Fmoduller_pdf%2FSular%25C4%25B1
n%2520Analiz%2520Parametreleri.pdf&usg=AOvVaw101zM69yFLdmpqi7OcO0G9