ENVIRONMENTAL

TECHNOLOGY (CE20110)

WATER
Biology

1
LESSON OBJECTIVES

Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD).

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD).
Water Hardness.

2
 1a. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

 Oxygen (O2) both in the dissolved and

gaseous forms are necessary on Earth.

 It is a crucial element for life in all living

organisms, e.g. humans, plants, animals,
bacteria etc.

 Dissolved Oxygen is necessary for aquatic

life. So enough dissolved oxygen must be
present in natural water

3
 1b. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

 BOD is the amount of

oxygen required by
bacteria.

 Bacteria uses oxygen to:

 Decompose (break-down)
organic matter.

 Make food to sustain

their lives. 4
1c. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

Example of a chemical equation for

bacterial breakdown of an organic
waste:

C50H100O40N (s) + 54.25 O2 (g) →

50 CO2(g) + 48.5 H2O (l) + NH3(g)

5
1d. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

 Testing method of BOD:

Temperature is maintained at 20°C.

 Two bottles used (Bottles A & B) to fill

in with samples (e.g. soil).

 Theamount of O2 in Bottle A is
immediately measured.
6
 1e. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

 Testing method of BOD (cont’d):

 BottleB is kept for 5 days after which the

amount of O2 is measured.

 The difference in O2 readings in both

bottles is the BOD of the sample.

 Measurement of O2 is done with a Dissolved

Oxygen (DO) probe.

7
1f. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)
 Testing method of BOD (cont’d):
 Results shown will be represented as
BOD5.

 Refersto the amount of oxygen used by

bacteria in the sample in the 5 days
period of the experiment.

8
1f. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)
 So BOD5 = BOD results after 5 days

BOD3 = BOD results after 3 days

BOD20 = BOD results after 20 days

9
1g. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

 Samples frequently used for BOD

measurement includes:
 Domestic wastewater.
 Industrial wastewater.
 Sewage water.
 Tap water.
 Soil.

10
1h. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

 Measurement units of BOD is in terms of

mg/L or ppm.

 Typical range of BOD5 readings:

 Clear lake = < 2mg/L.

 Tap water = 5 to20 mg/L.
 Sewage = 100 to 800 mg/L.
 Industrial wastewater = 1000 to 9000 mg/L.
11
 2a. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

 COD is the total amount of O2 needed to

oxidize all organic matter into CO2 and H2O.

 Compared to BOD values, COD values are

always higher.

 Organic matter are those that contain oxygen

in their molecular structure.

12
2b. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

 Organic matter can be natural, e.g. humans,

animals etc.

OR

 can also be man-made (artificial), e.g.

plastics etc.

13
 2c. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

 Testing method of COD:

Put sample of known weight in a bottle.

Pour in a measured amount of oxidizing

chemical (excess amount) onto the sample.

Leave the sample for 3 hrs for complete

reaction.

14
2d. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

 Testing method of COD (cont’d):

Mathematical calculation of amount of
oxygen present.

 Measurement of COD is written as “mg/L

COD”.

15
3a. Water hardness

 Hardness:
 Measurement of the amount of ions in
water, e.g. magnesium (Mg2+), calcium
(Ca2+).

 Higher the amount of these ions, the

harder is the water.

16
3b. Water hardness

 Levels of water hardness:

Hardness Amount of calcium
classification carbonate (mg/l)
Soft 0 -75
Moderately hard 75 -150
Hard 150 -300
Very hard > 300
17
3c. Water hardness
 Effects of water hardness in industry:

 Scaling in industrial water pipes.

• Deposits of magnesium hydroxide
[Mg(OH)2] and calcium carbonate
(CaCO3).

• Causes pipes’ diameter to decrease and

pressure to build up.

18
3e. Water hardness

 Prevention of water hardness:

Addition of softening chemicals.

• Exchange of insoluble Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions
with soluble sodium (Na+) ions.

• Using an ion-exchange column to remove

salts.

19
4a. Other unwanted chemicals

Chemical Source Problem

Arsenic (As) Pesticides Toxic
Cadmium (Cd) Industrial waste Toxic
Copper (Cu) Pipes/herbicide Poor taste
Iron (Fe) Pipes Clogging
Lead (Pb) Industrial waste Toxic
Mercury (Hg) Industrial waste Toxic
Chloride (Cl) Wastes Corrosion
20
4a. Water testing
 When testing water samples, samples
should be stored at 4 0C

21