Third Century of Biochemical Oxygen Demand

Rodger B. Baird is Manager of Laboratories for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, where he has worked in laboratory supervision and management for more than 30 years. His primary interests have been in wastewater reclamation and reuse, ocean monitoring, and environmental toxicology and he has coauthored more than 80 publications and conference presentations. He holds a...

Marlene Patillo graduated from Austin Peay State University in 1981 with a B.S. in chemistry and biology. She started her environmental career as a laboratory director for the City of Memphis T.E. Maxon Wastewater Treatment Plant. Her career includes environmental research, developing manuals and training courses, pilot-plant studies, teaching environmental seminars, and developing...

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is one of the fundamental concepts in wastewater treatment. The beginnings of the concept trace their way back to Forchamer in 1849, who studied the oxidation of wastewater with potassium permanganate. Through the rest...

The standard 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) test as currently performed in treatment plant laboratories did not just appear full-blown one day. Nor was it even envisioned by one single person in a moment of...

The putrescibility, or relative stability, test arose in the late 1890s and early 1900s as an empirical procedure to determine if a wastewater effluent is satisfactorily neutralized or purified. It consists of sealing a small portion of the wastewater in a bottle and then incubating it for a period of time, 24 hours being common. After incubation, the bottle is opened and the contents are examined...

Oxygen was discovered by Scheele in 1771 and independently by Priestly in 1774. The latter is generally credited in textbooks with the discovery. In 1857, Brodie advanced the opinion that oxidation of organic material in polluted water was the way to purify the water, but that oxygen dissolved in the water was not a significant source of oxidation...

Many persons perform the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) test as a cookbook exercise without having an understanding of the processes that are taking place during the test. Fundamental research into the mechanics of the test and its relation to biological waste treatment processes have been occurring since the late 1800s; however, even now, more...

The theory of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is still evolving. Perhaps a more descriptive title for this chapter could be mathematical methods for BOD modeling and prediction. However, the word theory is preferred as it connotes that the subjects touched upon here lie more often in the realm of conjecture than experience, and that there may be a somewhat tenuous connection to observation. In no...

The current procedures for determining biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in water are the result of more than 100 years of study, development, tinkering, and tweaking. Most of this experimentation was driven by work aimed at stabilizing sanitary wastes and finding quantifiable ways of measuring the rate and degree of stabilization. There are a...

Waste stabilization by microorganisms under aerobic conditions is the oldest and most easily implemented treatment process that is practiced. The term “aerobic” means that the...

The major alternates to the dilution bottle biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) technique are the use of respirometers, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and related techniques, and total organic carbon (TOC)....

Most persons who use and are familiar with the dilution bottle biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) test are well acquainted with the interpretation of the...

The idea of studying the oxygen demand of solids has been around almost as long as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) studies on wastewater effluents have been. Two types of solids are most frequently brought to mind when waste treatment is discussed....

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is a measure of the amount of oxidant, in terms of oxygen, that is required to neutralize a sample of wastewater. The term “neutralize” is used intentionally to imply the complete conversion of all elements in the sample to their respective combustion...

Carbon is present in samples in one of three forms: elemental (charcoal), inorganic (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbonates, and bicarbonates), and organic. Elemental carbon is essentially inert to biological organisms and is not considered further here.