Biological Oxygen Demand vs Chemical Oxygen Demand… what's the difference?

I told her great question! It was honestly the first time I've been asked it, which I imagine is
because most people's eyes glaze over when they hear those terms.

I took chemistry in college and graduate school, but I don't profess to be a chemist. I'll leave the
complex scientific answer to the chemistry buffs out there, so I'll answer the best way I can, the
same way I did to the young lady asking the question.

Why are we talking about COD & BOD?

Simple enough, because most NPDES stormwater & process water permits require that folks test
for these two parameters. Usually we see these parameters limited by an effluent limitation.

By why test for oxygen?

I mean, we all need it to breath. It's in our air, our water, so what's the big deal?

If the oxygen levels in our air changed, it would be a big issue. If they decreased, it would be a
problem. Now imagine if the same thing happened in the water. You might not think it, but it
would also be a big issue.

There are certain ways that we can impact the oxygen levels in the water, and that's why we’re
testing for oxygen.

A simple way to think of it is this. When you place organic chemicals or biological matter into
water, it will eventually break down. Just like composting, or how a fallen tree rots in the woods.

Oxygen is necessary for breaking down material. The more material to break down, the more
oxygen needed.

Additionally, aquatic organisms need oxygen to breathe.

A normal, naturally balanced ecosystem will have a certain amount of oxygen. There will be a
happy equilibrium of oxygen so everything gets what it needs. The fish, the algae, the decaying
matter, it'll all have just enough oxygen so nothing gets out of sync.

Now imagine there was too much organic matter breaking down. Or aquatic organisms were
reproducing at an alarming rate.

You guessed it, the oxygen would be out of balance. Something that would normally need
oxygen wouldn't be getting it.

Now we aren't talking about controlling population here, I'll let you talk to a biologist to cover
that matter, we're talking about the breaking down, or decay of matter, which our stormwater
runoff can contribute to.
When too much organic matter, either from a chemical or biological source, is added to a system,
the natural balance gets out of sync, and things like fish kills occur, or extreme algae blooms.
Point is, what we do, can have a serious impact on a naturally balanced ecosystem.

So how do we prevent this? We monitor for COD & BOD.

What is chemical oxygen demand (COD)?

You'll notice that both these terms contain the word oxygen.

That means that when either of them break down in a waterbody, they place a demand on the
amount of available… oxygen! They consume it as they decompose or breakdown.

COD comes from, you guessed it, chemical sources. It is a measurement of the amount of
chemical organic matter being added to a waterbody.

As Wikipedia put it:

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) test is commonly used to indirectly measure the amount of
organic compounds in water. Most applications of COD determine the amount of organic
pollutants found in surface water (e.g. lakes and rivers) or wastewater, making COD a useful
measure of water quality. It is expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/L), which indicates the mass
of oxygen consumed per liter of solution.

Make sense?

Organic pollutants at a site could be things like chemicals, petroleum, solvents, cleaning agents,
etc. Not what you immediately think of when you see the word organic, but that's what it means.

When these pollutants get spilled, mixed, etc., and end up in stormwater, they'll eventually break
down, and add an additional strain on the oxygen demand in the water. That's not a good thing.

So COD is looking for the amount of these pollutants in your stormwater runoff. Simple enough,
right?

What is biological oxygen demand (BOD)?

It's pretty similar to COD.

The difference? It's biological sources vs. organic sources.

There's a fair amount of natural, organic matter which makes its way to waterbodies via
stormwater runoff. Same as chemical sources, biological sources place a burden on the
ecosystem by needing oxygen to breakdown.

This would be things like sewage, plant and animal matter, etc.
Here's what Wikipedia says on the matter

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic
biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water
sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. The term also refers to a chemical
procedure for determining this amount. This is not a precise quantitative test, although it is
widely used as an indication of the organic quality of water. The BOD value is most commonly
expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per liter of sample during 5 days of incubation at
20 °C and is often used as a robust surrogate of the degree of organic pollution of water.

So, just like COD, this is a methodology of determining a degree of pollution in your runoff.

In environmental chemistry, there does seem to be a correlation between COD and BOD, so
sometimes one is used as an indicator of both of them.

What is dissolved oxygen and why is it important?

The stream system both produces and consumes oxygen. It gains oxygen from the atmosphere
and from plants as a result of photosynthesis. Running water, because of its churning, dissolves
more oxygen than still water, such as that in a reservoir behind a dam. Respiration by aquatic
animals, decomposition, and various chemical reactions consume oxygen.

Wastewater from sewage treatment plants often contains organic materials that are decomposed
by microorganisms, which use oxygen in the process. (The amount of oxygen consumed by these
organisms in breaking down the waste is known as the biochemical oxygen demand or BOD. A
discussion of BOD and how to monitor it is included at the end of this section.) Other sources of
oxygen-consuming waste include stormwater runoff from farmland or urban streets, feedlots, and
failing septic systems.

Oxygen is measured in its dissolved form as dissolved oxygen (DO). If more oxygen is
consumed than is produced, dissolved oxygen levels decline and some sensitive animals may
move away, weaken, or die.

DO levels fluctuate seasonally and over a 24-hour period. They vary with water temperature and
altitude. Cold water holds more oxygen than warm water (Table 5.3) and water holds less
oxygen at higher altitudes. Thermal discharges, such as water used to cool machinery in a
manufacturing plant or a power plant, raise the temperature of water and lower its oxygen
content. Aquatic animals are most vulnerable to lowered DO levels in the early morning on hot
summer days when stream flows are low, water temperatures are high, and aquatic plants have
not been producing oxygen since sunset.
Photosynthesis Production

Suspended solids, particularly algae, can block sunlight from reaching submerged plants. This can cause
dissolved oxygen levels to drop, as the plants rely on respiration (consuming oxygen) instead of
photosynthesis.

Turbidity can also inhibit photosynthesis by blocking sunlight. Halted or reduced photosynthesis
means a decrease in plant survival and decreased dissolved oxygen output 9. The higher the
turbidity levels, the less light that can reach the lower levels of water. This reduces plant
productivity at the bottom of an ocean, lake or river 15. Without the needed sunlight, seaweed and
bay grasses below the water’s surface will not be able to continue photosynthesis and may die 16.

Underwater vegetation die-off has two main effects. First, as photosynthetic processes decrease,
less dissolved oxygen is produced, thus further reducing DO levels in a body of water 13. The
subsequent decomposition of the organic material can drop dissolved oxygen levels even lower.
Second, seaweed and underwater plants are necessary food sources for many aquatic organisms.
As they die off, the amount of vegetation available for other aquatic life to feed on is reduced.
This can cause population declines up the food chain 21.