TEST TITLE : BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)

1.0

OBJECTIVE

To measures the strength of the water sample (water, wastewater, etc) based on the amount of oxygen needed to stabilize the organic matter in the sample.

2.0

LEARNING OUTCOME

a) The student be able to describe the importance of BOD in the environmental studies. b) The students be able to measure the BOD of samples with the right sample size.

3.0

THEORY Biochemical Oxygen Demand is a common, environmental procedure for

determining the extent to which oxygen within a sample can support microbial life. organic component in the water with the assistance of micro-organisms under defined experimental conditions. The BOD is an empirical biological test which the water conditions, such as temperature, oxygen concentration or type of bacteria, play a decisive role. ( Hans Hermann Rump, 1999 ). This method is popular in many environmental laboratories analyzing waste water, compost, sludge, and soil samples. BOD also measures the chemical oxidation of inorganic matter (the extraction of oxygen from water via chemical reaction). A test is used to measure the amount of oxygen consumed by these organisms during a specified period of time, five days at 20oC. Normally a reaction time of five days is used for the measurement (BOD5). The rate of oxygen consumption in a stream is affected by a number of variables: temperature, pH, the presence of certain kinds of microorganisms ang the type of organic and inorganic material in the water. (Frank R. Spellman, 2003)

BOD directly affects the amount of DO in water bodies. The greater the BOD, the more rapidly oxygen is depleted in the water body, leaving less oxygen available to higher forms of aquatic life. The consequences of high BOD are the same as those for low DO: aquatic organisms become stressed, suffocate, and die. (Frank R. Spellman, 2003). This formula to calculate the BOD, BOD = DOinitial Dofinal x 300 / sample size Once a general range for the BOD of a sample has been determined, the dilutions can be established which will ensure that at least one dilution will meat the criteria for valid BOD results. The formulas to calculate the minimum and maximum estimated dilution are :
ml sample added to BOD bottle = ( min allowable depletion x Volume of BOD bottle) Estimated BOD

ml sample added to BOD bottle = ( max allowable depletion x Volume of BOD bottle) Estimated BOD

Biochemical oxidation is a slow process and the theoretically takes and infinite time to go to completion. Within a 20-day period, the oxidation of the carbonaceous organic matter is about 95 to 99 percent complete and in the 5-day period used for the BOD test, oxidation is from 60 to 70 percent complete. The 20oC temperature used is an average value for slow moving streams in temperate climates and is easily duplicated in an incubator. 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 yt = L Lt = L ( 1 - e-kt ) or BODt = BODu ( 1 e-kt )

(Metcalf & Eddy, 1991)

In many biological treatment plants, the facility effluent large numbers of nitrifying organisms which are developed during the treatment process. These organisms can exert an oxygen demand as they convert nitrogenous compounds (ammonia and organic nitrogen) to more stable forms (nitrites and nitrates). At least part of this oxygen demand is normally measured in a five day BOD. Sometimes it is advantageous to measure just the oxygen demand exerted by organic (carbonaceous) compounds, excluding the oxygen demand exerted by the nitrogenous compounds. To accomplish this, the nitrifying organisms can be inhibited from using oxygen by the addition of a nitrification inhibitor to the samples. The result is termed Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen Demand or BOD.

4.0

EQUIPMENT AND REAGENT

Equipment :

1.

300 ml BOD Bottles

2.

Incubator , capable of maintaining 20 1 0c

3.

100 mL beaker

4.

100 mL graduated cylinder

5. 6.

25 ml meaning pipettes DO meter

7.

pH meter

Reagents : 1. Phosphate Buffer Dissolve 8.5g KH2PO4, 21.7g K2HPO4, 33.4g Na2HPO4, and 1.7g NH4Cl in deionized water. Adjust pH to 7.2, if necessary, with either 1 N H2SO4 or NaOH. Dilute to one liter.

2.

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

3.

Calcium Chloride Dissolve 27.5g CaCl2 and dilute to one liter.

4.

Ferric Chloride Dissolve 0.25g FeCl3.6H2O and dilute to one liter.

NOTE: To prepare dilution water, add one mL of each of the four solutions listed above to one liter of deionized water. Saturate with DO by drawing a vacuum through the solution.

5.0

PROCEDURE Take the sample of source water which is prepared. 3 units of 300 mL BOD bottles was label separately; three bottles for each sample and the other one bottle for dilution water.

1. 2.

3.

Get the data from the Do meter for 3 units of Blanks bottle.

4.

Measure the sample water with the Ph meter.

5.

The sample of water must be adjusted until 6 to 8 pH which mean not less than 6 pH and not more than 8 pH.

6.

After the sample of water been adjusted, pour it into BOD bottles in 75mL and add in dilution water until 300mL for each of sample.

7.

The initial DO for each bottles was determined including the dilution water blank by DO meter and the data was recorded on the lab sheet.

8. 9.

The bottles stoppers were inserted and will the top of each bottle around the bottles stopper with dilution water. The remaining bottles was placed in the incubator at 20C and incubated for 1, 2 and 5 days.

10. 11. 12.

At exactly 1, 2 and 5 days, the DO content was test of the incubated bottles. The DO reading that was taken filled into the table as DO final. Finally, the BOD for each dilution was calculated.