Wastewater treatment is the only way to ensure that we don't run out of fresh water. We have to become more water-efficient, that is, get more from every gallon of water. And the only way to do this is to recycle and reuse wastewater.

That's where these tips on wastewater treatment become pertinent, for your Institution, to manage wastewater treatment plants efficiently.

Potable water becomes wastewater after it gets contaminated with natural or synthetic, microbiological compounds that arises out of human activities, commercial and industrial sources.

Wastewater treatment starts from finding out how treatable the Wastewater is.

Is it as simple as looking at the physical characteristics of wastewater like color, odor, etc., or does it involve complex methods that determine the chemical characteristics of wastewater?

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) play important role in finding out the treatability of wastewater. If you find out the ratio of BOD to COD, you'll know the treatability of wastewater.

Now, let's see what is BOD and COD; and their relevance with reference to wastewater treatment.

**Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)**

The strength of wastewater is judged by BOD. This is defined as the amount of oxygen required by bacteria while stabilizing the organics in wastewater under aerobic conditions, at a particular time and temperature. This can be referred as BOD5, which accounts for 70% of the total BOD. The measurement of BOD is based on the principle: determination of dissolved oxygen content of water/wastewater on the first day and dissolved oxygen content on the fifth day ('5' in BOD5 indicates this). The difference in dissolved oxygen concentrations between first day and fifth day is expressed as BOD of wastewater.

**What does COD of wastewater mean?**

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) reflects the concentration of organic compounds present in wastewater. This measures the total quantity of oxygen required for oxidation of organics into carbon dioxide and water. The oxidation of organics in wastewater is carried out by the action of strong oxidizing agents. Generally, acidified potassium dichromate is used as an oxidizing agent for the determination of COD. Silver sulfate is used as the catalyst for the oxidation of organics in wastewater during the determination of COD. Mercuric sulfate is added to control the interference of chloride in the estimation of COD. The method consists of adding a known concentration of potassium dichromate (added with silver sulfate and mercuric sulfate) into wastewater containing organic compounds to be oxidized in the heating condition. After oxidation, the excess potassium dichromate is back titrated with ferrous ammonium sulfate.

**Importance of COD**

Estimation of COD expresses the total concentration of organics present in the wastewater. This measures approximately the theoretical oxygen demand of wastewater. The determination accounts for about 95% of the organic concentration in wastewater. This forms about 1.43 times the BOD of wastewater. BOD to COD ratio reveals the treatability of wastewater. If the ratio of BOD/COD is above 0.5, the wastewater is considered to be highly biodegradable. If the ratio is less than 0.3, the wastewater is deemed to undergo a chemical treatment before the routine biological treatment.

With this mandatory information, you will be able to choose the perfect wastewater treatment plant that suits your need.

The above is an excerpt from the free newsletter on "All About Wastewater Treatment" published by Geostar Publishing & Services LLC.

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Richard Runion 6423, Woodbine Court, St. Louis, Missouri, 63109, USA

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About the Author

Richard Runion President Geostar Publishing & Services LLC