Lecture 3
CE 433
Excerpts from Lecture notes of Professor M. Ashraf Ali, BUET.
Pollutant Discharge Limits
If pollutant discharge continues unabated, rivers and
lakes will lose their acceptability for their intended
beneficial use
Regulatory agencies’ primary responsibility is to impose
restrictions on the quality of domestic or industrial
effluents on water bodies on the basis of certain
guidelines or standards of a particular country
In Bangladesh, DoE is the main regulatory agency
which monitors effluent discharges by the industries and
verify their compliance with the standards stated under
the Environmental Conservation Rules 9ECR), 1997.
Surface Water Quality: Detection of
Pollution
Often pollution is first detected from visual observation.
Visible signs of pollution include:
Floating debris
Occurrence of fish-kill
Bad taste and odor
Excessive growth of aquatic plants
Floating oil
Scum deposition
Principal Pollution Problems, affected
uses and water quality variables
Manifestation of problem
Fish kill, nuisance, odor, radical change in ecosystem
Water use interference
Fishery, recreation, ecological health
Water quality problem
Low dissolved oxygen
Water quality variables
BOD, NH3, TKN, Organic solids, phytoplankton, DO
Principal Pollution Problems, affected
uses and water quality variables
Manifestation of problem
Disease transmission, gastrointestinal disturbance, eye
irritation
Water use interference
Water supply, recreation
Water quality problem
High bacterial levels
Water quality variables
TC, FC, Fecal streptococci viruses
Principal Pollution Problems, affected
uses and water quality variables
Manifestation of problem
Taste and odor, excessive algae, unbalanced ecosystem
Water use interference
Water supply, recreation, ecological health
Water quality problem
Eutrophication
Water quality variables
N, P, phytoplankton
Principal Pollution Problems, affected
uses and water quality variables
Manifestation of problem
Ecosystem upset – mortality, reproductive impairment
(suspended carcinogen in water)
Water use interference
Water supply, fishery, ecological health
Water quality problem
High toxic chemical levels
Water quality variables
Metals, pesticides, radioactive substances, other toxic
chemicals
Water Quality Assessment
Methods
Chemical Assessment :
Well known and involve regular sampling of water in
natural system, in the abstraction and treatment
processes and of most effluents before being released
Assessment involves regular testing for the presence and
concentration of the major chemical parameters (Tables
11.2 and 11.3)
Test protocols are according to Standard Methods
Bangladesh Standards
Table 11.2: Bangladesh Standards for sewage
discharge into surface and in land water bodies
Bangladesh Standards
Table 11.3: Bangladesh Standards for industrial effluent
discharge
Water Quality Assessment
Methods
Biological Assessment
By measuring the extent of the ecological upset, the severity of
the impact can be assessed
Severity or tolerance to pollution varies from species to species
Overall effects of altered physico-chemical environment can be
monitored through changes in
Species composition
Dominant groups within species
Behavior
High mortality of sensitive life stages (e.g. eggs)
Physiology
Metabolism
Morphological deformities
Advantages and disadvantages of different
water quality monitoring techniques
Realm Performances of Performance of
chemical biological
monitoring monitoring
Precision (i.e. pollutant Good Poor
concentration assessment)
Discrimination (i.e. what kind of Good Poor
pollution)
Reliability (how representative is a Poor Good
single or limited number of
samples)
Measure of ecological effects No Yes
Cost Relatively high Relatively low
Sayeed et al 2015
Oxygen Demanding Wastes
Most common surface water pollutant
Measured by
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
The amount of oxygen required by microorganisms to
oxidize organic wastes aerobically is called “biochemical
oxygen demand” (BOD). Usually expressed as mg/L
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
The amount of oxygen required for chemical oxidation of
organic wastes is called “chemical oxygen demand” (COD).
Usually expressed as mg/L
Aerobic vs Anaerobic
decomposition
Aerobic decomposition:
Organic matter + O2 bacteria CO2 + H2O + New cells
+ stable product
Anaerobic decomposition:
bacteria
Organic matter CO2 + CH4 + New cells
+ unstable products
This produces highly objectionable end products e.g. H2S, NH3,
CH4 when emitted from water bodies.
CH4 is often called “swamp gas”
Categories of Biochemical Oxygen
Demand
BOD
Carbonaceous Nitrogenous
BOD (CBOD) BOD (NBOD
Carbonaceous organic material can be readily used by bacteria
Decomposition of nitrogenous organic matter takes some time to
start. There is a time lag in the growth of nitrifying bacteria
necessary for oxidation of nitrogenous material
5 Day BOD Test
Long time required for determining total O2 required for
decomposition of a particular waste sample (several
weeks).
It has become a standard practice to measure and
report BOD over a period of 5-days (realizing that the
ultimate demand is considerably higher).
Q. What kind of BOD would you expect to measure from
5-day BOD test? CBOD or NBOD?
5 Day BOD Test
300 mL BOD bottle used
Stopper used to keep air from
replenishing DO
Measure DO0 Measure DO5
Light must be kept out of the bottle to
keep algae from adding DO by
photosynthesis
BOD5 = (DO0 – DO5) mg/L
Standard Temp is 20 degree C
Oxygen demand of typical waste is often several hundred mg/L
Saturated value of DO in water at 200C is only 9.1 mg/L
Wastewater samples, therefore are diluted to keep final DO (after 5
days above zero.
BOD Test – 1 (without
dilution)
Sample
Aeration Measure DO0 Measure DO5
BOD5 = (DO0 – DO5) mg/L
BOD Test – 2 (with dilution)
Mixture
Sample Dilution water
(free from organic
matter
Aeration
Dilution Factor =
Volume of mix/Volume of sample
Measure DO0 Measure DO5
BOD5 = (DO0 – DO5)* Dilution Factor
(mg/L)
BOD Test – 3 (Seeded BOD
Test)
In some cases, it becomes necessary to “seed” dilution
water with microorganisms in order to ensure adequate
bacterial population to carry out biodegradation.
In such cases, it is necessary to subtract oxygen
demand caused by the seed from the demand in the
mixed sample of waste and dilution water, in order to
determine BOD of waste.
BOD Test – 3 (Seeded BOD Test)
Seeding (addition of
water containing bacteria)
Dilution water (d)
Sample (w)
Mixture (m)
Aeration
Measure DO0 Measure DO5 Measure DO0 Measure DO5
BODm = (DO0 – DO5) mg/L BODd = (DO0 – DO5) mg/L
BODm. Vm =BODw. Vw + BODd. Vd Find BODw
Chemical Oxygen Demand
Measure the oxygen equivalent of the organic material
in wastewater that can be oxidized chemically using
dichromate in an acid solution where
Why not cBOD is equal to
COD ?
1.Many organic substances which are difficult to oxidize
biologically (e.g lignin) can be oxidized chemically.
2.Inorganic substances that are oxidized by dichromate
(e.g sulfide,sulfite, ferrous ion)
3. Certain organic substances may be toxic to
microorganisms used in the BOD test.
BOD vs COD
Typical BOD/COD of untreated domestic wastewater:0.5-0.8
If BOD/COD ratio is 0.5:
→Waste is considered to be easily treatable by biological means
If BOD/COD ratio is 0.3:
→Organics in wastewater may be refractory
→Organics in wastewater are degradable. However, another
substance in wastewater leads to inhibition of bacteria that uses
organic matter
→Bacteria is not acclimated to wastewater
Problems
A 15-mL sample of sewage is mixed with enough
dilution water to fill a 300 mL BOD bottle. The bottle
has an initial DO of 8.5 mg/L. At the end of 5 days,
meausured DO is 2.8 mg/L. Calculate BOD5 of the
sewage.
Consider the previous example. 15 mL sewage has
been mixed with dilution water to fill 300 mL BOD
bottle. Initial DO is 8.5 mg/L and DO after 5 days is 2.8
mg/L. For a BOD bottle filled with only dilution water,
initial DO is 8.7 mg/L and after 5 days DO is 7.7 mg/L.
Calculate BOD of sewage.
