PART A: COD DETERMINATION IN WASTEWATER

INTRODUCTION

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is one of the method used to measure the capacity of
water to consume oxygen during the decomposition of organic matter and the oxidation of
inorganic chemicals such as ammonia and nitrite. Hence, COD measurements are commonly tested
on samples of waste waters or of natural waters contaminated by domestic or industrial wastes.
Besides, most application of COD is to determine the amount of organic pollutants found in surface
water such as lakes, river, drain water and others, which making COD a useful measure of water
quality (Hur et al., 2010). The final test will be expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/L) that
indicates the mass of oxygen consumed per liter of solution.

COD also determines the quantity of oxygen that required to oxidize the organic matter in
water or wastewater sample under a specific conditions of oxidizing agent, temperature and time.
The commonly used oxidizing agent in COD tests is a potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7) which is
used in combination with boiling sulfuric acid (H2SO4). The water sample is heated for two hours
with a strong oxidizing agent and react reducing the dichromate ion to the green chromic ion.

The higher the COD the more oxygen stripping capacity the discharged effluent has when
discharged into receiving waters and the more potential for damage to biological life in those
waters. This is because of the oxygen is used in biologically or chemically to break down the
organic matter. Besides, COD is normally higher that BOD because more organic compounds can
be chemically oxidized that biologically oxidized (Yang et al., 2009).
OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this experiments is to determine the chemical oxygen demand of a

In the COD assay, the vial used was Hr range: 20-1500 mg/L for the wastewater sample.
Firstly, a dilution is required for vial, according to the manufacturer (HACH Co.) which 2 ml of
wastewater sample is diluted into the Hr range vial. Besides, the blank is prepared by using
deionized water instead of wastewater sample which is 2ml of deionized water is diluted into HR
range vial. Then, the cap is tightly closed and inverted gently for a several times. This is to ensure
the solution is mixed. After that, the vial is heated for two hours in the reactor at temperature of
150. After two hours, the vial is removed from the reactor and cooled to room temperature. After
cooled, the COD is measured by using COD meter and the result is recorded.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The purpose of doing this laboratory work was basically to determine the organic
characteristics of wastewater sample. This experimental work consists of three parts, which the
first part is Part A, chemical oxygen demand (COD) determination in wastewater samples. The
COD test was commonly used to measure the organic strength of domestic and industrial
wastewater. It is allowing the measurement of a waste in terms of the total quantity of oxygen
required for the oxidation to carbon dioxide and water. It is because all organic compounds can be
oxidized by the action of strong oxidizing agents under acid conditions (Anonymous, 1999).
Besides, COD test predicts the oxygen requirement of the effluent and is used for monitoring and
control of discharges and for assessing treatment plant performance. The impact of an effluent or
waste water discharge on the receiving water is predicted by its oxygen demand. This is because
the removal of oxygen from the natural water reduces its ability to sustain aquatic life. For this
part, vial range that being used was Hr, which the appropriate range was 20-1500 mg/L. Table 2.1
shows the recorded reading of COD for Hr range (g/L) by using COD meter.

Table 2.1: Data collected for chemical oxygen demand (COD):

Wastewater sample Hr Range (g/L)

As the result obtained, there were five reading collected. According to Gautam (2015)
reported that COD is the total amount of oxygen required to chemically oxidize the bio-degradable
and non-bio-degradable organic matter inside the wastewater sample. The results show that the
reading of Group 5 is the lowest and Group 3 is the highest. This indicated that, the wastewater
sample of Group 5, the amount of oxygen required to oxidize the organic matter inside the sample
is much little compared to the wastewater sample of Group 3. It is means that, the wastewater
sample of Group 5 is less contamination, clean and fresh for living thing to live, while the
wastewater sample of Group 3 indicated that the water sample is unclean and quite dirty, and
shows large contamination inside the sample. Besides, according to the theory (Yang et al., 2009),
the higher the COD value, the higher the inorganic matter. Thus, the waters are polluted because
more oxidizable material, organic and inorganic are present in water which are the pollutants.

According to the National Water Quality Standards for Malaysia, under the conservation
of natural environment in class I, the range of COD for good quality water is below 10. The good
quality of water should contain less contaminants waste in a water sample, thus more oxygen are
contain in a water sample. When compared to the results obtained, all of the wastewater samples
are not in a range of good quality water. This is due to the higher of inorganic matter presence in
water sample that give a result to higher COD value. But, as treated the COD value for water
sample will be much lower and so give a less of pollutant to the environment.
CONCLUSION

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is one of the methods used to determine the organic
characteristics of wastewater sample. For this experiment, high range vials was used. The COD
reading for the sample tested was 44g/L. COD can be high without any negative effects for the
plants and the soil so there are no permissible or standard ranges for COD. From the result, it can
be concluded that between five samples tested, Group 5 is the lowest and Group 3 is the highest.
This indicated that, the wastewater sample of Group 5, the amount of oxygen required to oxidize
the organic matter inside the sample is much little compared to the wastewater sample of Group
3. It is means that, the wastewater sample of Group 5 is less contamination, clean and fresh for
living thing to live, while the wastewater sample of Group 3 indicated that the water sample is
unclean and quite dirty, and shows large contamination inside the sample.
REFERENCES

A. Anonymous., (2016). Chemical Oxygen Demand. Encyclopedia: Science & Philosophy.

Anonymous. (1999). Module of understanding of chemical oxygen demand (COD) test. [Online].
[Accessed 03-09-2017]. Retrieved from world wide web: file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads
/18%20Understanding%20COD%20test.pdf

Gautam, R. (2015). Basic information of chemical oxygen demand (COD). [Online]. [Accessed
03-09-2017]. Available from world wide web: www.slideshare.net/lovecantbpainted/ chemical-
oxygen-demand

J. Hur., B. M. Lee., T. H. Lee., & D. H. Park., (2010). Estimation of Biological Oxygen Demand
and Chemical Oxygen Demand for Combined Sewer Systems Using Synchronous Fluorescence
Spectra. Journal Sensors 10(2010), pp: 2460-2471.

doi: 10.3390/s100402460

Q. Yang., Z. Liu., & J. Yang., (2009). Simultaneous Determination of Chemical Oxygen Demand
(COD) and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5) in Wastewater by Near-Infrared Spectrometry.
Scientific Research 4(2009), pp: 286-289.

doi: 10.4236/jwarp.2009.14035