PART B: BOD DETERMINATION OF WASTEWATER

INTRODUCTION

According to Penn. M. R., (2009), one of the most common approaches in quantifying
water pollution is by BOD. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) can be defined as the total
oxygen amount that being uptake by bacteria from water when they oxidize organic matter and it
was expressed in parts per million (ppm) or mg/L (Lee. J. H., 2000). Organic matters that get into
the water may either being totally dissolved or suspended as particulate matters. Bacteria live and
continuously growth in the water when there are oxygen for oxidation and organic matter as food.
Human beings, animals and also bacteria oxidized organic matter by burning with presence of
oxygen, by digestion or by biochemical action of bacteria. Normally, to determine the BOD of a
water sample, the amount of oxygen used by the bacteria is calculated by comparing the amount
left at the end of five days with the amount known to be present at the beginning. During the five
day period, bacteria oxidize mainly the soluble organic matter present while very little oxidation
of the insoluble matter occurs (Liu. J., 2002).

BOD measurement has long been the basic means for determining the degree of water
pollution. It is the most important measurement made in the operation of a sewage treatment plant.
Basically, Vaiopaolo. E., (2005) study mentioned that the efficiency and effectiveness of sewage
treatment can be examined by comparing the BOD of incoming sewage and the BOD of effluent
water that leaving the plant. If water with high BOD value flows into a river, the bacteria in the
river will oxidize the organic matter, consuming oxygen from the river faster than it dissolves back
in from the river and this will result in dying of aquatic life from lack of oxygen. Thus, sewage
treatment plants must remove as much BOD as possible from the sewage water. BOD of
wastewater is typically 110-440mg/L and must be reduced to 20mg/L for discharge.

There are two terms that commonly used in BOD which are BODu and BOD5. BODu
measure the amount of oxygen usage by microorganisms over a long period of time. Meanwhile,
BOD5 is the common approach in laboratory where it calculate the amount of oxygen consumed
in mg/L over a 5 day period at 20 C in dark environment. In other words, BOD5 is a measure of
the bioavailability over a 5 day period under controlled conditions. The formula to calculate BOD
of water sample is as below:

( )
=

Where,

Di = initial dissolved O2 concentration

Df = final or 5 day dissolved concentration

P = volumetric fraction of wastewater

()
= ()
OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this studies are to assess the quality of surface waters. Besides, to
determine the amount of dissolved oxygen in waste water samples. The studies are to establish the
concentration of organic matter in waste water samples. Lastly, to understand the characteristics
of DO contained in water and wastewater.
PROCEDURES

Determine the wastewater sample source.

Firstly, the sample of wastewater was taken from the drain outside the campus of UniKL
MICET using the bottle provided from the lab. Next, 200 mL of the sample was placed
into 300 mL BOD bottle.

Addition on nitrification inhibitor.

After that, 0.16 g of nitrification inhibitor was weighed and added into the samples.
Nitrification inhibitor also known as BOD inhibitor purposely to eliminate the nitrogen and
carbon dioxide inside the sample. Next, 100 ml of dilution water was refilled back into the
sample and stirred them very slowly.

Record the initial and final DO level (ppm) of the sample.

The sample was then recorded the initial DO level (ppm) using the DO meter, and was
place in an incubator at temperature of 20oC in about 5 days. On day 5, the final DO
reading (ppm) was checked and recorded.

Calculate the BOD5 of your wastewater samples.

Lastly, the BOD5 level was determined using equation below:

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

For the second part which is Part B, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) determination of
wastewater, the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) test measures the ability of naturally
occurring microorganisms to digest organic matter in a five day incubation at 20 oC by analyzing
the depletion of oxygen. This measures biodegradable organic matter. The sample is filled in an
airtight bottle and the dissolved oxygen (DO) content of the sample is determined before and after
five days of incubation. The BOD is calculated from the difference between initial and final DO
as shown in Appendix.

Table 2.2: Data collected for Group 1 (Drained water from ADTEC)

Parameters Results

pH (Initial) 5.99

pH (Final) 6.67

DO (Blank) 8.29

Dilution (50 ml) Dilution (100 ml) Dilution (150 ml)

DO (Initial) 7.76 7.34 6.90

DO (Final) 5.72 3.16 2.42

P 0.167 0.333 0.50

BOD5 12.22 12.55 8.95

 Table 2.3: Data collected for Group 2 (Drained water from UNIKL MICET)

Parameters Results

pH (Initial) 6.11

pH (Final) 6.67

DO (Blank) 8.29

Dilution (50 ml) Dilution (100 ml) Dilution (150 ml)

DO (Initial) 7.92 7.19 6.73

DO (Final) 5.62 2.93 2.71

P 0.167 0.333 0.50

BOD5 13.77 12.79 8.04

Table 2.4: Data collected for Group 3 (Drained water at junction of UNIKL MICET)

Parameters Results

pH (Initial) 6.92

pH (Final) 6.92

DO (Blank) 8.29

Dilution (25 ml) Dilution (50 ml) Dilution (100 ml) Dilution (150 ml)

DO (Initial) 7.85 7.29 6.49 5.57

DO (Final) 5.03 3.55 3.74 3.95

P 0.083 0.167 0.333 0.50

BOD5 33.98 22.40 8.26 3.24

 Table 2.5: Data collected for Group 4 (Drained water at UNIKL MICET)

Parameters Results

pH (Initial) 5.66

pH (Final) 6.78

DO (Blank) 8.29

Dilution (50 ml) Dilution (100 ml) Dilution (150 ml)

DO (Initial) 7.84 7.36 6.75

DO (Final) 6.68 4.92 4.22

P 0.167 0.333 0.50

BOD5 6.95 7.33 5.06

Table 2.6: Data collected for Group 5 (Drainage UNIKL MICET)

Parameters Results

pH (Initial) 5.93

pH (Final) 6.56

DO (Blank) 8.29

Dilution (50 ml) Dilution (100 ml) Dilution (150 ml)

DO (Initial) 7.84 7.43 6.89

DO (Final) 5.14 2.01 3.16

P 0.167 0.333 0.50

BOD5 16.17 16.28 7.46

 There were five wastewater samples tested for BOD as stated. The initial pH for all samples
were measured and adjusted between 6.6 and 7.2. As stated in references (Pauer et al., 2013), the
sample should have a neutral pH value of between 6.6 and 7.2 because microorganisms they
require an environment that is suited to their species and in the purification of biological
wastewater, based on the final pH value of both samples, it can be accepted. Besides, the dissolved
oxygen for initial for the following dilution became increased for all of the samples. As the dilution
of the samples increased, the concentration of dissolved oxygen, DO decrease due to a high
demanding of oxygen from microorganisms. But after five days of incubation, DO final became
decreased from the DO initial. This shows that the reduction of dissolved oxygen happened in the
sample where microorganisms uptake the oxygen. This can be proven when low DO readings
signify high oxygen demand from microorganisms, and can lead to possible sources of
contamination depending on the process (Anonymous, 2010).

The BOD5 level was calculated as shown in Table 2.2 until Table 2.5. From the
observations, the BOD for all samples became decreased as the dilution of the samples increased.
The lower the BOD value, the polluted the sample. A higher BOD indicates a high content of
easily degradable organic material in the sample. While, a low BOD indicates a low volume of
organic materials substances which are difficult to break down. In addition, a several dilutions are
to be used to ensure that at least one will deplete the oxygen content by about 50%. For BOD value
at least 2 mg/L of oxygen should be consumed with at least 1 mg/L remaining. If this condition is
not found in any of the dilutions used, a wider range of dilutions must be selected for the
examination of succeeding samples (Anonymous, 2010). Therefore, sample for Group 3 has a
higher BOD5 level which is 33.98 ppm for first dilution.

Besides, according to the reference, when the BOD5 level reach 100 ppm or greater than
100 ppm, the wastewater quality is very polluted, while if the BOD5 level is between 6 to 9 ppm,
the wastewater quality is somewhat polluted. Hence, the BOD5 level of the last dilution for all
samples were between 6 to 9 ppm which it shows that all the wastewater samples quality for last
dilution were somewhat polluted. . In this experimental, it is found that the BOD5 value for Group
3 (Drained water at the junction of UNIKL MICET) is lower than Group 4 (Drained water at
UNIKL MICET) which means that wastewater of Group 3 is more polluted compared to
wastewater of Group 4. Therefore, the lower the BOD5 value, the polluted the sample. The
oxidation of nitrogen from ammonium to nitrate by specific bacteria is called nitrification. The
nitrification inhibitor blocks or toxifies the specific bacteria that are responsible for the degradation
of the ammonium without damaging the microorganisms that degrade carbon compounds.
Consequently, an inhibitor is added to the measurement solution to prevent the conversion of
ammonium to nitrate.
CONCLUSION

The determination of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is used in studies to measure

the self-purification capacity of streams as a means of checking on the quality of effluents
discharged to stream waters. The dissolved oxygen (DO) value for all samples were reduced after
five days due to the microorganisms have uptake the oxygen in the samples. Hence, the DO
recorded after 5 days incubation shows a decreasing results. In this experimental, it is found that
the BOD5 value for Group 3 (Drained water at the junction of UNIKL MICET) is lower than Group
1 (Drained water from ADTEC) which means that wastewater of Group 3 is more polluted
compared to wastewater of Group 4. Therefore, the lower the BOD5 value, the polluted the sample.
The dissolve oxygen and biochemical oxygen demand of a wastewater sample were determined.
Hence, the objective of the experiment was achieved.
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Michael R. Penn, James J. Pauer and James R. Mihelcic. (2009). Biochemical Oxygen Demand.
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Jun Ho. Lee and Ki Woong Bang. (2000). Characterization of Urban Stormwater Runoff. Journal
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Jing Liu and Bo Mattiasson. (2002). Microbial BOD Sensors for Wastewater Analysis. Journal of
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M. Dular and J. Zagorc-Koncan. (1990). Evaluation of Wastewater Pollution. Water, Science and
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Eleni Vaiopoulou, Paris Melidis and Alexander Aivasidis. (2005). Sulfide Removal in Watewater
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