Today, we’re going to look at how efficient a wastewater treatment plant is at removing BOD. Watch the video below and learn how this type of problem is solved.
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Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) is one of the most common measures of pollutant organic material in water. BOD indicates the amount of putrescible organic matter present in water. Therefore, a low BOD is an indicator of good quality water, while a high BOD indicates polluted water. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is consumed by bacteria when large amounts of organic matter from sewage or other discharges are present in the water. DO is the actual amount of oxygen available in dissolved form in the water. When the DO drops below a certain level, the life forms in that water are unable to continue at a normal rate. The decrease in the oxygen supply in the water has a negative effect on the fish and other aquatic life. Fish kills and an invasion and growth of certain types of weeds can cause dramatic changes in a stream or other body of water. Energy is derived from the oxidation process. BOD specifies the strength of sewage. In sewage treatment, to say that the BOD has been reduced from 500 to 50 indicates that there has been a 90 percent reduction.
The BOD test serves an important function in stream pollution-control activities. It is a bioassay procedure that measures the amount of oxygen consumed by living organisms while they are utilizing the organic matter present in waste, under conditions similar in nature. The other traditional tests or indicators for water quality are chemical oxygen demand (COD) and pH.
