ORGANIC MATTER IN WASTEWATER

Microorganisms such as bacteria are responsible for decomposing organic waste. When organic
matter such as dead plants, leaves, grass clippings, manure, sewage, or even food waste is
present in a water supply, the bacteria will begin the process of breaking down this waste. When
this happens, much of the available dissolved oxygen is consumed by aerobic bacteria, robbing
other aquatic organisms of the oxygen they need to live. For this reason wastewater engineers are
interested in measuring organic materials. Biodegradable organic pollution leads to oxygen
depletion in rivers, streams, and lakes.

Estimation of organic content of the wastewater

The organic matter present in the water body can be analyzed in laboratory by determining
i. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD),
ii. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and by
iii. Determination of Total Organic Carbon (TOC).

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a measure of the oxygen used by microorganisms to

decompose this waste. If there is a large quantity of organic waste in the water supply, there will
also be a lot of bacteria present working to decompose this waste. In this case, the demand for
oxygen will be high (due to all the bacteria) so the BOD level will be high. As the waste is
consumed or dispersed through the water, BOD levels will begin to decline.

BOD test

In BOD test, a liquid containing organic wastes (mostly diluted) is placed in a bottle. The
dissolved oxygen (DO) is measured and the bottle is sealed. After some incubation time(mostly
5 days), the DO of the sample is measured again. Because the bottle is sealed, the difference in
the DO values represents the oxygen used by microbes in degrading the waste. The change in
DO is an indirect measure of the organic substances in the bottle. Through this process we see
that biodegradable organic materials have associated with them a potential demand for oxygen
when they are degraded (hence the name biochemical oxygen "demand").

NB
 If the waste is strong, the oxygen in the bottle will run out before the end of the
incubation period. This is why we dilute the waste. If we over-dilute it, the change of
DO will be too small to be statistically reliable.The recommended final dissolved oxygen
after 5 days 1-2mg/l.

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  The dilution water (distilled water ) should be aerated for sufficient time to correct DO
close to saturation value (9.1mg/l at 20 oC )
 The temperature must be maintained at 20 OC hence the BOD bottles should be put in an
incubator
 The BOD bottles are also wrapped with foil paper to prevent the growth of algae in the
sample.
 In case of acidic waste all samples must be neutralized before incubation

The calculation of the BOD is based on a mass balance:

Mass of BOD in sample = Mass of oxygen in bottle at t=0 – Mass of oxygen in bottle at t = t

Vsample(BOD) = Vbottle (DO0) – Vbottle (DOt);

The volume of the sample =volume of the bottle,hence V cancelles

BOD=DO i−DO f
Where,
DOi, DOf = are initial and final DO

For diluted samples

DOi −DOf
BOD=
P

Where
DOi and DOf are the initial and final DO of diluted wastewater sample

Volume of sample
P=
volume of wastewater+ volume of dilutionwater

Volume of sample
¿
Volume of BOD bottle (300 ml)

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 Effects of dilution of strong waste water

A typical graph of DO in the BOD bottle as a function of time might look like figure below

As shown in the graph, if we wait a long time, the bacteria consume all of the organic material,
and the DO stops dropping. The total DO drop at this point represents the "ultimate BOD" (also
called BODu or sometimes BODL for "limiting BOD"). Twenty to thirty days is a long time to
wait, so usually the bottles are opened and measured after 5 days, and the test results are reported
as the "5-day BOD" or BOD5. The choice of incubation time is really arbitrary.

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SEEDED SAMPLES
If the sample to be analyzed for BOD does not have adequate concentration of bacterial
population to carry out biodegradation, then the sample is added with sufficient amount of seed
(bacteria and essential nutrients for their growth).
Usually 1 to 2 mL of sewage per liter is considered as sufficient to act as a seed. In such case
it is necessary to subtract the oxygen demand of the seed from the mixed sample, because
organic matter present in this 1 to 2 mL of seed will also exert oxygen demand. Thus, the
BOD of the wastewater with seeded sample can be worked out as below. The DO drop in
blank is multiplied by (1- p) because this volume of blank is only present in the sample.

The BOD5 for seeded sample is given by the following equation.

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Examples 1
5ml wastewater is added to a 300ml BOD flask.DOi =8mg/l,DOf is 2mg/l after 5 days.What is
the value of BOD5.
Solution
NB
The BOD bottle must be filled up.So if the sample in the bottle is 5ml then 295ml is dilution
water,
Therefore
5
p= =0.0167
(5+295)

And
8−2
BOD5= =359 mg/l
0.0167

Example 2

A BOD test was conducted at 20oC in which 15ml of waste sample was diluted with dilution to
300ml.

Given

Initial DO of diluted sample D1 =8.8mg/l

Final DO after 5 days D2 =1.9mg/l

Initial DO od seeded dilution water ,B1=9.1mg/l

Final DO of seeded dilution water B2 =7.9mg/l

Calculate BOD5 at 20 0C

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 15
p= =0.05
300

Therefore

( 8.8−1.9 )−( ( 9.1−7.9 ) ( 1−0.05 ))

BOD5= =115.2 mg /l
0.05

Example 3