CENTER OF DIPLOMA STUDY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY

LABORATORY INSTRUCTION SHEETS

SUBJECT CODE
EXPERIMENT CODE
EXPERIMENT TITTLE
COURSE CODE

MA3
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN
DEMAND

KOD ETIKA PELAJAR

(KEP)
JABATAN KEJURUTERAAN AWAM
PUSAT PENGAJIAN DIPLOMA
UTHM
Saya dengan ini mengaku bahawa saya telah menyediakan laporan ini dengan daya usaha
saya sendiri. Saya juga mengaku tidak menerima atau memberi sebarang bantuan dalam
menyediakan laporan ini dan membuat ikrar ini dengan kepercayaan bahawa apa-apa yang
tersebut di dalamnya adalah benar.

___________________________
Tandatangan Pelajar
Nama

: ________________________

No. Matrik :_________________________

Tarikh

:_________________________

CENTER OF DIPLOMA STUDY

PAGE NO:

1/4

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

EDITION :

MA3

LAB : ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

LABORATORY
EXPERIMENT : BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN
DEMAND ( BOD)

REVISION NO:
EFFECTIVE DATE :
AMENDMENT DATE:

01/12/07

1.0 OBJECTIVE
To measures the strength of the water sample ( water, wastewater, etc) based on the amount of
oxygen needed to stabilize the organic matter in the sample.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES
i)
ii)

the student be able to describe the importance of BOD in the environmental studies.
the students be able to measure the BOD of samples with the right sample size.

______________________________________________________________________________
3.0 THEORY
Biochemical Oxygen Demand is a common, environmental procedure for determining the extent to
which oxygen within a sample can support microbial life. This method is popular in many
environmental laboratories analyzing waste water, compost, sludge, and soil samples.
When a measurement is made of all oxygen consuming materials in a sample, the result is termed
Total Biochemical Oxygen demand ( TBOD ) , or often just simply Biochemical Oxygen Demand

(BOD). Because the test is performed over a five day period, it is often referred to as a
five Day BOD , or a BOD5.
In addition, this procedure is only suitable for samples void of serious matrix interferences. To gain a
broader appreciation of oxygen demand, additional avenues of interest may be explored including
CBOD (carbonaceous oxygen demand), COD (chemical oxygen demand), and TOC (total organic
carbon).
Because of complications measuring this ultimate BOD (BOD u), BODu is usually extrapolated from
laboratory 5-day BOD bottle tests BODt = BODu ( 1 e-kt )
In many biological treatment plants, the facility effluent large numbers of nitrifying organisms which
are developed during the treatment process. These organisms can exert an oxygen demand as they
convert nitrogenous compounds (ammonia and organic nitrogen) to more stable forms (nitrites and
nitrates). At least part of this oxygen demand is normally measured in a five day BOD.
Sometimes it is advantageous to measure just the oxygen demand exerted by organic
(carbonaceous) compounds, excluding the oxygen demand exeried by the nitrogenous compounds.
To accomplish this, the nitrifying organisms can be inhibited from using oxygen by the addition of a
nitrification inhibitor to the samples.The result is termed Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen
Demand or BOD.

CENTER OF DIPLOMA STUDY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

PAGE NO:
EDITION :

2/4
MA3

LAB : ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

LABORATORY
EXPERIMENT : BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN
DEMAND ( BOD)

REVISION NO:
EFFECTIVE DATE :

01/12/07

AMENDMENT DATE:

4.0 EQUIPMENT & REAGENTS :

1.

5 units 300 mL BOD Bottles

2.

Incubator , capable of maintaining 20 1 0c

3. 100 mL beaker
4. 100 mL graduated cylinder
5. 2 units 25 ml meaning pipettes
6. DO meter
7. pH meter
8. Phosphate Buffer
Dissolve 8.5g KH2PO4, 21.7g K2HPO4, 33.4g Na2HPO4, and 1.7g NH4Cl in deionized water. Adjust
pH to 7.2, if necessary, with either 1 N H 2SO4 or NaOH. Dilute to one liter.
9. Magnesium Sulfate
Dissolve 22.5g MgSO4.7H2O and dilute to one liter.
10. Calsium Chloride
Dissolve 27.5g CaCl2 and dilute to one liter.
11. Ferric Choloride
Dissolve 0.25g FeCl3.6H2O and dilute to one liter.
NOTE: To prepare dilution water, add one mL of each of the four solutions listed above to one liter of
deionized water. Saturate with DO by drawing a vacuum through the solution.
5.0 PROCEDURES
1. Collect the sample.
2. Measure the pH of the sample.
3. BOD measurement
- Determine the sample size
- Determine three sample size volume ( number of BOD bottles)
- Prepare a blank of dilution water
6.0 RESULTS AND CALCULATION
Write the results in benchcheet

CENTER OF DIPLOMA STUDY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

PAGE NO:
EDITION :

3/4
MA3

LAB : ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

LABORATORY
EXPERIMENT : BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN
DEMAND ( BOD)

REVISION NO:
EFFECTIVE DATE :

01/12/07

AMENDMENT DATE:

7.0 DATA ANALYSIS

7.1 Calculate for the average BOD
7.2 Show all the calculation and state if any of the data needs to thrown out.
7.3 The dillution water blank can not deplete more than 0.2 mg/L. Was this criteria met?
7.4 Does you sample shows a toxic effect?
7.5 Could you rely on your BOD results? Why?
7.6 By referring to Sewage/Effluent Standard (DOE, Malaysia ) could your sample be discharge to
river untreated? If not, suggest the associated treatment for BOD removal.
8.0 DISCUSSION

Q1. a) Calculate the min / max volume of sample to be added to prepare as estimated
BOD _____________ mg/L.
b) Why must samples containing cautic alkalinity or acidity be adjusted before preparing BOD
dilution?
c) The completed composite sample arrive in the lab at
eg:_________________,_______________) What is the latest day and time the sample can
be started for BOD.
d) Describe the function of BOD bottles cap and seal water.

Q2. a) Why must samples containing residual chlorine be dechlorinated before preparation of
BOD dilutions?
b) What reagents are required to chemically dechlorinate a BOD sample?
c) What must be done to samples which have been dechlorinated or adjusted for pH
variations?

CENTER OF DIPLOMA STUDY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

PAGE NO:
EDITION :

4/4
MA3

LAB : ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

LABORATORY
EXPERIMENT : BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN
DEMAND ( BOD)

REVISION NO:
EFFECTIVE DATE :

01/12/07

AMENDMENT DATE:

Q3. a) State the formula to calculate

i)
seed correction
ii)
BOD5 (seeded)
b) Calculate the seed correction and BOD5 (seeded) for the data given as below
Dilution #1

BOD5 of Seed Material

mL of seed material
mL of sample
Start D.O.
Final D.O.

95 mg/L
2 mL
100 mL
7.8 mg/L
2.9 mg/L

Q4. a) 30 mL of wastewater are placed in a 300 mL BOD bottle. The sample is diluted to fill the
bottle. The DO concentrations at the beginning and the end of 5-day incubation period are
7.3 mg/L and 1.8 mg/L respectively. What is the BOD?
b) The BOD5 of a wastewater was determined to be 250 mg/L. If the reaction coefficient
was 0.23 l/d, calculate i) ultimate BOD, ii) BOD3 and iii) BOD remaining at 3 days
Q5. a) What is seeding process in BOD measurement?
b) Explain preparation of seed material.
c) What materials can be used to seed a BOD sample
Q6. What is the significance of dissolved oxygen ?
Q7. a) With regard to precision, ten percent duplicate or replicate samples should be run. This
would result in one duplicate sample or one replicate sample being run every ten samples.
Differentiate replicate and duplicate sample
b) When are DO levels at their highest and their lowest and why?

Bench sheet

BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND ( BOD)

Analyst:
Date:
Time :
Sample Details:
Source:

pH

Pretreatment:
Alkalinity/Acidity

Comments:

Sample Volume : __________mL

I N NaoH : __________mL
I N N2SO4:__________mL

Sample
Type

Sample
ID

Volume
Sample
( mL)

Dilution
Factor

Initial DO
(mg/L)

Blank
BOD--Blank
BOD--Blank
BOD--Average BOD
( show the calculation)

Cancelled Data/ Result:

BOD__

BOD__

BOD__

Final DO
( mg/L)

DO
Depletion
( mg/L)

BOD
(mg/L)