OBJECTIVE

 To determine the organic oxidize able matters content of water samples.

THEORY

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) is the amount of oxygen consumed to completely
Chemically oxidize the organic water constituents to inorganic end products. COD is and
important, rapidly measured variable for the approximate determination of the organic matter
content of water samples. Some water samples may contain substances that are difficult to oxidize
. in these cases, because of the theoretical oxygen demand. It should also be noted that the
significance of the COD value depends on the composition of the water studied.

COD is used a measurement of pollutants in natural and waste waters to assess the
strength of discharged waste such as sewage and industrial effluent waters. It is normally
measured in both municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants and gives an indication
of the efficiency of the treatment process. The dichromate reflux method is preferred over
procedures using other oxidants because of superior oxidizing ability, applicability to a wide
variety of samples, and ease of manipulation. Oxidation of most organic compounds is 95-100%
theoretical value.
APPARATUS

NO NAME PICTURE
1 Cod reflux system

2 Burette

3 Pipette

4 COD vial

2
PROCEDURES

1) The substances were added in COD vial by followed the sequences below:
a. Placed in COD Dichromate Reagent
1.5 ml Potassium Dichromate Reagent
3.5 ml Acid Sulphuric Reagent
b. COD vial no. 1: 2.5 ml sample

2) Refluxing mixture placed at COD Reactor with temperature 150 ͦ C for one hours.

3) After one hours, cool down the condenser with distilled water. Cooling down process
continued to room temperature.
4) Disconnect reflux condenser. The solution transferred to the conical flask and mixed up
with 150 ml distilled water. Added with 3 drops of ferroin indicator.
5) Titrated K2 Cr2 O7 with ferrous ammonium sulfate (FAS). The initial and final reading
recorded. The titration stopped colour changed into reddish brown.

3
RESULT

Table 1 : FAS standard titration data :

Reading of buret/ pipette Cone flask (standard)

First reading 0
Last reading 5.6
Volume of FAS (ml) 5.6

6.1 Compute the molarity of FAS by using the given formula :

volume 0.1667 M K 2Cr 2O7 solution titrated,ml

Molarity of FAS solution = = 𝑋 0.100
Volume FAS used titration ,ml

5.0
Molarity of FAS solution = = 5.6 𝑋 0.100

Molarity of FAS solution = 0.089

Table 2 : COD test data collections :

Normality of FAS Sample volume Volume of FAS used

(N) (ml)
In the original sample, In the blank sample, s
b (ml) (ml)
0.1 2.5 3.2 4.0

6.2 compute the COD concentration in mg/L for the sample by using given formula :

(A−B) 𝑋 𝑀 𝑋 8000
COD as mg/L = (𝑚𝑙)𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒

(4−3.2) 𝑋 0.089 𝑋 8000

COD as mg/L = 2.5

COD as mg/L = 227.8 mg/L

4
 ANALYSIS

1) Which volume is larger, in the blank sample or in original sample

Based on the result obtained, the blank sample has the larger volume which is 4.0ml
compared with the original sample which has 3.2 ml volume.

2) How to obtain the normality of FAS equal 0.25 N

Normality of FAS =
Weight of potassium dichromate taken
(volume of ferrous ammonium sulphate solution) 𝑋 0.004904 𝑋 10 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑∈𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

3) If the original sample has to be diluted, how can you calculate the COD value

By using the formula :

(A−B) 𝑋 𝑀 𝑋 8000
COD as mg/L = (ml) 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒

5
DISCUSSION

1. What is the purpose of using blank sample in the experiment?

The main reason for using the blank sample is to control the volume of organic material
in the sample. COD was carried out to measure the oxygen demand of organic
compounds in a sample of water, and we have to ensure there were no accidentally
outside organic materials added to the sample to be measured. A blank sample is created
by adding the reagents to a volume of distilled water. Both water and blank sample will to
compared. The oxygen demand for the blank sample is subtracted from COD for the
original sample to ensure the true measurement of organic matter.

2. What is different between COD and BOD test?

The chemical oxygen demand COD is the amount of oxygen consumed to completely
chemically oxidize the organic water constituents to inorganic end products. It was
carrying out to determine the organic oxidize able matters content of water samples.
While, Biochemical Oxygen Demand is a common environmental procedure for
determining the extent to which oxygen within a sample can support microbial life.

3. Briefly explain whether the value of COD obtain in this experiment are suitable to
be discharged to the stream.

Discharge COD limits can be different with different waste streams (from specific
industries) and COD limit values can be between 100 to 350 mg/L depending on the
waste stream. Based on the result obtained, 227.8 mg/L is suitable to be discharged to the
stream.

6
CONCLUSION

In environmental chemistry, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) test is commonly used to
indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water. Most applications of COD
determine the amount of organic pollutants found in surface water (e.g lakes and rivers), making
COD a useful measure of water quality. It is expressed in miligrams per liters(mg/L), which
indicates the mass of oxygen consumed per liter of solution. Older references my express the units
as parts per million (ppm).