What is Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)?
The quantity of dissolved oxygen required by aerobic bacteria to break down organic compounds in sewage water. BOD is a biological process rather than a simple test. BOD testing, however, is a frequently employed method to assess the quality of water. This test measures BOD by measuring the quantity of oxygen lost during a five-day incubation period for a sealed water sample.
Common sources of BOD include animal dung, woody debris, topsoil, leaves, food processing facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, urban stormwater runoff, and the effluents of pulp and paper mills. The overall rate of oxygen consumed by microorganisms depends on the prevailing pH and temperature. With rising BOD levels, aquatic life forms in a given water body have less access to oxygen. Aquatic life forms would be more stressed, suffocate and ultimately perish due to high BOD.
Also Read: Water Pollution
Difference Between Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD)
The difference between BOD and COD is that BOD measures the quantity of oxygen consumed by aerobic microorganisms to break down organic matter in water whereas COD measures the amount of oxygen needed to chemically oxidize all organic and inorganic contaminants in water without the aid of microbes. A potent oxidizing agent is needed for COD. Unlike BOD, it completely oxidizes contaminants into CO2 and H2O. Furthermore, BOD tests take longer to complete than COD testing, which can be finished in a few hours. This article provides detailed information on the differences between BOD and COD.
Table of Content
- Difference Between BOD and COD
- Full form of BOD and COD
- What is Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)?
- What is Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)?
- FAQ’s – BOD and COD