ABSTRACT

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and oxygen uptake rate (OUR) are commonly used to characterize wastewater. BOD is used in monitoring the purification efficiencies and oxygen requirements in wastewater treatment plant operation. OUR is used in defining microbial activity and biokinetics of treatment processes. 1 Despite the application of OUR to determine biodégradation rates and substrate inhibition kinetics, its use in wastewater treatment control represents a controversial application. 2 , 3