Solids Test Analysis

1. A solids analysis is to be conducted in a sample of wastewater. The procedure is as

follows:
a. A Gooch crucible and filter pad are dried to a constant mass of 25.439 g.
b. Two hundred millimeter of a well-shaken sample of the wastewater is passed
through the filter.
c. The crucible, filter, pad, and removed solids are dried to constant mass of 25.656g.
d. One hundred millimeter of the filtrate [water passing through the filter in (2) above] is
placed in an evaporation dish that had been per weighed at 275.419 g.
e. The sample in (4) is evaporated to dryness and the dish and residue are weighed at
276.227 g.
f. Both the crucible from (3) and the evaporation dish from (5) are placed in a muffle
furnace at 600°C for an hour. After cooling, the mass of the crucible is 25.501 g and
the mass of the dish is 275.944 g.
Determine the following:
(a) The filterable solid (mg/L).
(b) The nonfilterable solids (mg/L).
(c) The total solids (mg/L).
(d) The organic fraction of the filterable solid (mg/L).
(e) The organic fraction of the nonfilterable solid (mg/L).

2. A laboratory runs a solids test. The weight of the crucible = 48.6212g. A 100mL sample
is placed in the crucible and the water is evaporated. The weight of crucible and dry
solids = 48.6432 g. The crucible is placed in a 600 C furnace for 24 hr and cooled in a
desiccator. The weight of the cooled crucible and residue, or unburned solids = 48. 6300
g. Find the total, volatile, and fixed solids.

BOD
It is generally assumed that the rate at which the oxygen is consumed is directly proportional to
the concentration of degradable organic matter remaining at any time. The kinetics of BOD
reaction can be formulated in accordance with first order reaction kinetics as:
d Lt / d t = - K Lt
Where:
Lt = amount of first order BOD remaining in wastewater at time t
K = BOD reaction rate constant/time

Where Lo or BODu at time t = 0, i.e., ultimate first stage BOD initially present in the sample.

The relation between K(base e) and K (base 10) is

K(base 10) = K(base e) / 2.303.
The amount of BOD remaining at time ‘t’ equals
Lt = Lo (e-k.t)
The amount of BOD that has been exerted (amount of oxygen consumed) at any time t is given
by
BODt = L0 – Lt = Lo (1 – e-k.t)
And the five day BOD is equal to
BOD5 = L0 – L5 = Lo (1 – e-5k)

For polluted water and wastewater, a typical value of K (base e, 20 °C) is 0.23 per day and K
(base 10, 20 °C) is 0.10 per day. These values vary widely for the wastewater in the range from
0.05 to 0.3 per day for base 10 and 0.23 to 0.7 for base e.

The ultimate BOD (Lo) is defined as the maximum BOD exerted by the wastewater. It is difficult
to assign exact time to achieve ultimate BOD, and theoretically it takes infinite time. From the
practical point of view, it can be said that when the BOD curve is approximately horizontal the
ultimate BOD has been achieved. The time required to achieve the ultimate BOD depends upon
the characteristics of the wastewater, i.e., chemical composition of the organic matter present in
the wastewater and its biodegradable properties and temperature of incubation. At higher
temperature for same concentration and nature of organic matter ultimate BOD will be achieved
in shorter time as compared to lower temperatures, where it will require more time. The ultimate
BOD best expresses the concentration of degradable organic matter based on the total oxygen
required to oxidize it. However, it does not indicate how rapidly oxygen will be depleted in
receiving water. Oxygen depletion is related to both the ultimate BOD and the BOD rate
constant (K). The ultimate BOD will increase in direct proportion to the concentration of
biodegradable organic matter.

The BOD reaction rate constant is dependent on the following:

1. The nature of the waste

2. The ability of the organisms in the system to utilize the waste

3. The temperature

Nature of the waste.

The BOD rate constant is high for the raw sewage (K (base e) = 0.35 -0.7 per day) and low
for the treated sewage (K (base e) =0.12 - 0.23 per day), owing to the fact that, during
wastewater treatment the easily degradable organic matter will get more completely
removed than the less degradable organics. Hence, in the treated wastewater, relative
proportion of the less biodegradable organic matter will be higher, giving lower BOD rate
constant.

Ability of organisms to utilize waste:

Every microorganism is limited in its ability to utilize organic compounds. Many organic
matters can only be utilized by particular group of microorganisms. In natural environment,
where the water course is receiving particular organic compound, the microorganisms which
have capability to degrade that organic matter will grow in predominant. However, the
culture used during BOD test may have very small fraction of the organisms which can
degrade that particular organic compound in the waste.

As a result, the BOD value, for limited incubation duration, and the rate constant would be
lower in the laboratory test than in the natural water where the waste is regularly
discharged. Therefore, the BOD test should be conducted with organisms which have been
acclimated to the waste so that the rate constant determined in the laboratory can be
compared to that in the river.

Temperature: The biochemical reactions are temperature dependent and the activity of the
microorganism increases with the increase in temperature up to certain value, and drop with
decrease in temperature. Since, the oxygen utilization in BOD test is caused by microbial
metabolism, the rate of utilization is similarly affected by the temperature. The standard
temperature at which BOD is determined is usually 20oC. However, the water temperature
may vary from place to place for the same river; hence, the BOD rate constant is adjusted
to
the temperature of receiving water using following relationship:
Kt = K20 θ(T-20)
Where
T = temperature of interest, C
o

KT = BOD rate constant at the temperature of interest, day-1

K20 = BOD rate constant determined at 20 C, day-1
o

θ = temperature coefficient. This has a value of 1.056 in general and 1.047 for higher
temperature greater than 20 C. This is because increase in reaction rate is higher when
o

temperature increases from 10 to 20 C as compared to when temperature is increased from

o

20 to 30 C.
o

Problems:
1. The wastewater is being discharged into a river that has a temperature of 15°C.
The BOD rate constant determined in the laboratory for this mixed water is 0.12
per day. What fraction of maximum oxygen consumption will occur in first four
days?
2. The BOD of a sewage incubated for one day at 30°C has been found to be 100
mg/L. What will be the five day 20°C BOD? Assume K = 0.12 (base 10) at 20 °C,
and θ = 1.056
3. Determine the 1 day BOD and ultimate first stage BOD for a wastewater whose 5
day 20°C BOD is 200 mg/L. The reaction rate constant k (base e) = 0.23 per day.

Assignment
1. The dissolved oxygen in an unseeded sample of diluted wastewater having an initial
DO of 9.0 mg/L is measured to be 3.0 mg/L after 5 days. The dilution fraction is 0.03
and reaction rate constant k = 0.22 day-1. Calculate a) 5 day BOD of the waste, b)
ultimate carbonaceous BOD, and c) What would be remaining oxygen demand after
5 days?
2. Determine ultimate BOD for a wastewater having 5 day BOD at 20°C as 160 mg/L.
Assume reaction rate constant as 0.2 per day (base 10).

3. What is the theoretical oxygen demand in mg/L for a 1.67x 10-3 molar solution of
glucose, C6H12O6, to decompose completely?

4. An analysis for BOD5 is to be run on a sample of wastewater. The BOD is expected to

range from 50 to 35, and the dilution are prepared accordingly. In each case, a standard
300-mL BOD bottle is used. The data are recorded below.
Bottle Wastewater,

Bottle No. Wastewater, mL DO1 DO5

1 20 8.9 1.5
2 10 9.1 2.5
3 5 9.2 5.8
4 2 9.2 7.5
(a) Determine the BOD5 of the wastewater.
(b) If you know that the oxygen utilization rate is 1.21 per day at 20°C, what will be the
BOD3 if the test id tun at 30°C?