A study of the relationship of the raw wastewater BOD5:cBOD5 ratio was conducted at three wastewater treatment plants across the United States. Gwinnett County, Georgia; King County, Washington; and Littleton-Englewood, Colorado conducted a 3-month study using side-by-side samplers. The purpose of the study was to determine if cleaning wetted sampler parts routinely affected the ratio. One of the samplers was cleaned twice a week and the other was not cleaned. The results of the study show that cleaning the wetted parts of the sampler has a small but statistically insignificant impact on the BOD¬5:cBOD5 ratio. The study showed other surprising relationships in the ratio and other aspects of BOD5 and cBOD5, including the impact of wastewater temperature and sampler type.
Study of Raw Wastewater BOD5 and cBOD5 Relationship Yields Surprising Results
Authors: Woodie Muirhead and Henryk Melcer, Greg Farmer (Littleton-Englewood), Stacy Walker, Leonard Robb, Holly Elmendorf, Roger Matthews (Gwinnett County); Rick Butler (King County);
2006 WEFTEC