Kuwait University

College of Engineering and Petroleum

Civil Engineering Department

Environmental Engineering Laboratory

CE-213L

Experiment #5
Determination of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

Conducted On: August 16, 2021

Monday/Wednesday Group

August 13, y

On my honor I pledge that this work of mine does not violate the University provisions on
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Signature: dalal, Maryam, Hessa, aljazi, Fatma
Abstract

 In this experiment, we have learned the meaning of BOD (biochemical

oxygen demand) test. Our sample in this test wastewater we used Winkler
method by titration. The results of DO0, DO1, DO2 and DO5 is 0 mg/L, 0.8
mg/L, 1.3 mg/L and 2.7 mg/L respectively. ∆DO does not fall within the
range of (2-7 mg/L) in the first two days due to human errors or
experimental/device errors. BODu and k were measured by Thomas method.
The reaction rate constant (k) must fall within the range 0.1-0.5d. Our value
is 0.2d-1 so k is within the range and the quality is poor. (Do,-Do,) value
must fall between 2-7 mg/L so BOD0, BOD1, BOD2 are out of the range.
BOD5 is in the range. The BODu value is 42.7 mg/L. BODu high value
indicates a low quality of water, which implicates a negative impact on the
environment.

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Table of contents

Abstract.......................................................................................................................................i
Table of contents........................................................................................................................ii
List of Figures and Tables.........................................................................................................iii
Nomenclature.............................................................................................................................1
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Summary...........................................................................................................................................2
Sources..............................................................................................................................................2
Significance.......................................................................................................................................2
Impact................................................................................................................................................3
Objective:...................................................................................................................................4
Theoretical background:.............................................................................................................5
Experimental details:..................................................................................................................7
Material &specimen:.........................................................................................................................7
Equipment:........................................................................................................................................7
Procedure:..........................................................................................................................................8
Results and Discussion:..............................................................................................................9
Results:..............................................................................................................................................9
Discussion:......................................................................................................................................10
Answers of Questions:.....................................................................................................................11
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................13
Acknowledgments:...................................................................................................................14
References:...............................................................................................................................14
Appendix:.................................................................................................................................14
Grade of the report..................................................................................................................15

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List of Figures and Tables

Figure 1: (t/BOD)1/3 vs t.......................................................................................................................10

Table 1: BOD calculations……………………………………………………………………………...9

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Nomenclature

BOD= Biochemical Oxygen Demand

DO= Dissolved Oxygen
DOi = dissolved oxygen before incubation (initial)
DOf = dissolved oxygen after incubation (final)
C= Celsius
Mg/L= Milligram per liter
Vs = volume of sample
VBOD = volume of BOD bottle
Lt= Oxygen equivalent of organics remaining at time t, mg/l
k = reaction rate constant d ^-1 = 1 per day
Time = t (s)
Lo= Oxygen equivalent of organics at time = O
Lt= the amount of oxygen used in the consumption of the organics at time=t
T= temperature required
MnSO4= Manganese sulfate
H2SO4= Concentrated sulfuric Acid
Na2S2O3= Stock solution of 0.1 N Sodium Thiosulphate
Na2S2O3= Standard Solution of 0.025 N Sodium Thiosulphate
Ml= Milliliter
Doi= DO before incubation (initial)
Dof= DO after incubation (final)

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Introduction:

Summary

BOD stands for Biochemical Oxygen Demand; it represents amount of oxygen

consumed by bacteria during oxidation of organic materials in a given time and
at standard temperature. It is the traditional, most widely used test to establish.
The intent is to measure what affect the sample will have on oxygen available to
living organisms.
In laboratory, the standard oxidation or incubation time usually five days, and
temperature 20° Celsius. Laboratory incubators provide a controlled,
contaminant-free environment for safe, reliable work with cell and tissue
cultures by regulating conditions such as temperature, humidity, and CO2.

Sources

 Biodegradable waste.
 Organic matter.
 Microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoans.
 Aquatic plants such as algae.

Significance

BOD is an important part of environmental analysis:

 To determine the strength of wastewater (domestic and industrial)
 To measure plant efficiency and operation as it used as a parameter in
process design and loading.
 The only test through which the rate of oxidation occurrence can be
determined given the amount of biologically oxidizable organic matter
present.

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Impact

 In general, the greater the BOD the more rapidly oxygen is depleted in
water. This means less oxygen is available to aquatic organisms which
can negatively implicate aquatic life as a whole.
 Water with high BOD is considered low quality as far as aquatic life is
concerned.
 It defines the strength of domestic wastes and industrial wastewaters.

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Objective:

Determination of:
 Ultimate BOD (BODU or Lo).
 Reaction rate (k) using Thomas method.

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Theoretical background:
The BOD value represents the amount of oxygen required
by bacteria to decompose aerobically the amount of organic
matter in a given period of time at a stated temperature. BOD is
the quantity of used in the aerobic stabilization of wastewater
and polluted water.

BOD removal approximates first order kinetics.

dLt/ dt = -rA
dLt/ dt = -k L,
Where,
L = oxygen equivalent of organics remaining at time t, mg/l.
k = reaction rate constant
Then, dLt/ L = -k dt
by integration, Lt= Lo e^(-kt)
Where,
Lo = oxygen equivalent of organics at time = 0.
Lt = the amount of oxygen used in the consumption of the organics at time = t
BODt = Lo - Lt = Lo – Lo e^(-kt) = Lo (1-e^(-kt)).
Lo = BODu
so,
BODt = BODu (1-e^(-kt)), Knowing that BODu always taken at T=20°C.
We have, KT = K20 θT-20
Where,
θ =1.135 when T (4 -20)°C
θ =1.056 when T (20 -30)°C
T=temperature required

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 Volume of sample taken , ml
P = Volume of BOD bottle (¿ 300 ml)

BODt = ( DOi − DOf ) / P

Where,
DOi : DO before incubation (initial)
DOf: DO after incubation (final)
6B
K, (d -1) = A

1
BODu (mg/l) =Lo = 2
6A B

Where,
B=slope of the line
A=intercept of the line

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Experimental details:

Material &specimen:
Sample: Wastewater

Equipment:
1. Special glass bottles (Winkler bottles) with volume of 300 ml preferably the
bottle and stoppers should be numbered.
2. Pipettes.
3. Graduated cylinders.
4 Measuring flasks.
5. Burettes.
6. Incubator.
7. Siphoning System apparatus.
8. Reagent 
1. Alkali- Iodide Reagent.
2. Manganese sulfate (MnSO4 ).
3. Concentrated sulfuric Acid ( H 2SO4 ).
4. Stock solution of 0.1 N Sodium Thiosulphate (Na 2 S2 O3).
5. Standard Solution of 0.025 N Sodium Thiosulphate (Na 2 S2 O3).
6. Starch.

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Procedure:
1. Prepare 300 ml bottle fill with sample.
2. Add 2 ml MnSO4 .
3. Add 2 ml alkali-Iodiode-azide solution.
4. Shake and leave for 5 min and see two layers appeared.
5. Add 2 ml Concentrated H 2SO4 .
6. Remove 100 ml from 300 ml.
7. Add1 ml starch.
8. Titrate using Na 2 S2 O3.

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Results and Discussion:
Results:

Volume of sample = 30 mL

Volume of BOD bottle = 300 mL

DOi = 9 mg/L

Volume of sample 30
P = Volume of BOD bottle = 300 = 0.1

t(day) Dof(mg/L) (Doi-Dof)(mg/L) BODt(mg/L) (t/BODt)^(1/3)

0 9 0 0 0
1 8.2 0.8 8 0.5000
2 7.7 1.3 13 0.5358
5 6.3 2.7 27 0.5700

Table 1: BOD calculations

Sample calculations:

For day #1:

DOi - DOf = 9-8.2 = 0.8 mg/L

DOi−DOf 0.8
BOD1 = P
= 0.1 = 8 mg/L

(t/BOD)1/3= (1/8)1/3 = 0.5

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 (t/BOD)^(1/3)
0.5800
f(x) = 0.0160876652271044 x + 0.492374316748618
0.5600

0.5400
t/(BOD)^(1/3)

0.5200

0.5000

0.4800

0.4600
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5
time(day)

Figure 1: (t/BOD)1/3 vs t

B = 0.0161, A = 0.4924

6B 6(0.0161)
k= A = = 0.2 d-1
0.4924

1 1
BODu = 2 = 2 = 42.7 mg/L
6A B 6 ( 0.4924 ) (0.0161)

Discussion:

 k value falls within the accepted range (0.1 – 0.5 d-1)

 ∆DO does not fall within the range of (2-7 mg/L) in the first two days due to

human errors or experimental/device errors.

 BODu high value indicates a low quality of water, which implicates a

negative impact on the environment.

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Answers of Questions:

1. Define BOD value?

BOD is the amount of oxygen consumed by bacteria during oxidation of
biodegradable organic materials in a given time and standard temperature.

2. Using the BODu and k values from your results, calculate the BOD at
day 9 at 15⁰C
k15 = k20 θT-20 = 0.2*(1.135)15-20 = 0.11 d-1

BOD9 = BODu (1-e-kt) = 42.7 (1-e-0.11*9) = 26.83 mg/L

3. Given ultimate BOD = 250 mg/L, BOD at day 7 = 185 mg/L, calculate
the k value?
BOD7 = BODu (1-e-kt)

185 = 250 (1-e-k*7)

k = 0.192 d-1

4. Knowing the initial dissolved oxygen = 9.5 mg/L, dissolved oxygen at

day t = 6.7 mg/L, BOD at day t = 168 mg/L, calculate the volume of
sample used?
DOi−DOf 9.5−6.7
BODt = P
→ 168 = P
→ P = 0.01667

Volume of sample x
P = Volume of BOD bottle = 300 = 0.01667 → volume of sample = 5 mL

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5. The value of k determines the speed of BOD reaction. What do you
know about k value?
The value of k depends on the temperature, the nature of the waste, and the
ability of the organisms to utilize the waste. The higher the temperature, the
more active organism are, and so the higher the k value. The k value ranges
between 0.1 to 0.5 d-1, depending on the organic molecules. Simple compounds
have higher k values while complex compounds have lower k values.

6. Determine the following of the test done in lab:

a. End point: Solution becomes colorless

b. Titrant: Na2S2O3

c. Indicator: Starch (blue color)

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Conclusion:

This experiment was beneficial as we learned how to use the Thomas method to
determine BOD and how to get K 20 in case the temperature wasn’t at 20°C. The
results of DO0, DO1, DO2 and DO5 is 0 mg/L, 0.8 mg/L, 1.3 mg/L and 2.7 mg/L
respectivily. BODu and k were measured by Thomas method. The reaction rate
constant (k) must fall within the range 0.1-0.5d. Our value is 0.2d-1 so k is
within the range and the quality is poor. (Do,-Do,) value must fall between 2-7
mg/L so BOD0, BOD1, BOD2 and BOD5 are out of the range. The BODu value is
42.7 mg/L. The higher the BOD, the lower the quality of the water and therefore
the more negatively it impacts the environment.

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Acknowledgments:

We would like to thank Eng. Latifa who helped us with the report and the
graph. Also, for her help throughout the experiment and understand the
material very well.

References:

Marafie, M. Civil Engineering Environmental Lab Notes.

Appendix:

Does not match

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Grade of the report

Abstract 2  

Table of contents 2

List of figures and tables 2

Nomenclature 2

Introduction  
Summary 2

Sources 2

Significance 2

Impacts 2

Objectives 2

Theoretical background 2

Experimental details

Materials, specimens & equipments 2

Procedure 3

Results and discussion details

Results 5
Answers of questions 10
Discussion 2
Conclusion 2

Acknowledgements 2

References 2

Appendix 2  

Grade of the report 50  

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