Methods for assessing biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): A review

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2013.10.066

Water Research

Volume 49, 1 February 2014, Pages 62-82

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.10.066 Get rights and content

Highlights

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Alternative methods for monitoring biochemical oxygen demand have been reviewed.
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The concepts and the technical features are described.
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Some methods allow to assess BOD in only 70 s vs 5 days with the standard method.
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Performances of the various methods have been compared.

Abstract

The Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is one of the most widely used criteria for water quality assessment. It provides information about the ready biodegradable fraction of the organic load in water. However, this analytical method is time-consuming (generally 5 days, BOD₅), and the results may vary according to the laboratory (20%), primarily due to fluctuations in the microbial diversity of the inoculum used.

Work performed during the two last decades has resulted in several technologies that are less time-consuming and more reliable. This review is devoted to the analysis of the technical features of the principal methods described in the literature in order to compare their performances (measuring window, reliability, robustness) and to identify the pros and the cons of each method.

Graphical abstract

Introduction

The biological measurement “Biochemical Oxygen Demand” (BOD) was selected in 1908 as an indicator of the organic pollution of rivers by the U.K. Royal Commission on River Pollution. The traditional five day period to estimate the BOD₅ parameter was chosen for this test because this is supposedly the longest time that river water takes to travel from its source to its estuary in the U.K. (Great Britain. Royal commission on sewage disposal, 1908). Thereafter, this parameter was adopted by the American Public Health Association Standard Methods Committee in 1936 as a reference indicator to evaluate the biodegradation of chemicals and hazardous substances.

This parameter is defined as the amount of oxygen, divided by the volume of the system, taken up through the respiratory activity of microorganisms growing on the organic compounds present in the sample (e.g. water or sludge) when incubated at a specified temperature (usually 20 °C) for a fixed period (usually 5 days, BOD₅). It is a measure of that organic pollution of water which can be degraded biologically. In practice, it is usually expressed in milligrams O₂ per litre (Nagel et al., 1992).

The BOD₅ has three major applications. First, it is an indicator of the conformity of the wastewater discharge and the waste treatment procedure to the current regulations. Second, in wastewater treatment plants, the ratio between BOD₅ and COD (chemical oxygen demand) indicates the biodegradable fraction of an effluent. Third, the ratio COD/BOD₅ is an indicator of the size of a wastewater treatment plant required for a specific location.

Conventionally, BOD is determined according to the standardised method described in the next paragraph. However, the main disadvantage of this approach is the time required for its achievement (5 days) (Riedel et al., 2002). The standardised method, which allows only a deferred analysis of the wastewater quality, does not appear today to be the most suitable tool for real-time environmental monitoring.

This test is one of the most widespread in the domain of water monitoring; however, the measurement variability in certified laboratories reaches 20% (internal measurements), and this value increases between laboratories (comparative measurements) due to the variability of the microbial populations sampled (Guyard, 2010).

Due to the worldwide use of BOD methods, alternatives have been developed that range from static bioassays to online biosensors. In this review, we are interested in the analysis systems developed during the last twenty years to estimate BOD. Five main development strategies have been used by the research teams to design these new systems. Among these innovative technologies, some were transferred and marketed to industry.

Section snippets

How to assess BOD?

Aerobic biodegradation consists of oxidising organic matter biologically. During this process, the organic matter is converted by microorganisms into microbial biomass, eventual transformation products of biodegradation reaction (compounds derived from the initial organic matter), CO₂ and H₂O, according to Equation (1) (Swisher, 1987, Pagga, 1997, Reuschenbach et al., 2003). $X_{0} + S + O_{2} \overset{N,P,MN}{\to} X_{f} + T_{p} + {CO}_{2} + H_{2} O$

X₀: Initial biomass
S: Organic carbon sources
O₂: Oxygen
N: Nitrogen source
P: Phosphorus source
MN:

Methods of BOD measurement

Because of the required time by the tests, the methods presented in this part are essentially designed to perform occasional analyses of BOD or to monitor an effluent with a measurement frequency inferior to one per week. They are primarily methods that present an improvement relative to the simplifying of the standard method (e.g., a decrease in the maintenance, a reduction of the working area or an enlargement of the measurement ranges of the organic load). Nevertheless, these methods are

Technological evaluation

In order to compare the main strategies of BOD assessment described above, the main assets and drawbacks of each method are listed in Table 1. These methods are classified in two categories i.e. the real measurement or the mathematical prediction.

Conclusion

This review has identified the main technological strategies designed to measure or to estimate the BOD parameter, used as an indicator of the biodegradability of organic matter. It focuses on the technological aspect of the assessment methods, on the nature of the performed measurement (real measurement or prediction) and on the pros and cons of them.

From a technical point of view, the latest advances show that the “measurement” aspect of biological signals (bioluminescence, cellular activity,

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ReviewMethods for assessing biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): A review

Highlights

Abstract

Graphical abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

How to assess BOD?

Methods of BOD measurement

Technological evaluation

Conclusion

Enzyme Microb. Technol.

Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf.

Talanta

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Anal. Chim. Acta

Anal. Chim. Acta

Sens. Actuators B: Chem.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Sens. Actuators B: Chem.

Water Res.

Water Res.

Water Res.

Separat. Purif. Technol.

Process Biochem.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Talanta

Sens. Actuators B: Chem.

Sens. Actuators B: Chem.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Enzyme Microb. Technol.

Sens. Actuators B: Chem.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Sens. Actuators B: Chem.

Water Res.

Water Res.

Anal. Chim. Acta

Anal. Biochem.

Talanta

Water Res.

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Chemosphere

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Water Res.

Water Res.

Trends Biotechnol.

Anal. Chim. Acta

Biosens. Bioelectron.

Curr. Appl. Phys.

Water Res.

Enzyme Microb. Technol.

Review
Methods for assessing biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): A review