EXPERIMENT 3: WATER POLLUTION

Objectives:

After completing the work associated with this experiment, student should be able to:

1. Understand the implications of water pollution.

2. Perform a basic experiment to determine the water quality of a given system based on
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).
3. Gain an awareness of water pollution problems from municipal solid waste landfill
leachate.

Introduction

Water pollution is defined as the release of substances into the environment that ultimately enter
our water, in quantities that are harmful to organisms in the water or that use the water. It is hard
to determine what level of water pollution irreversibly damages the environment. In order to save
this resource for future generations, we need to err on the cautious side today. The most obvious
source of water pollution, called point source pollution, is directly discharged into water. A less
obvious source of pollution, called nonpoint source pollution, comes from a large, diffuse area,
which includes air and land. The rapid growth in population and development has increased the
amount of solid waste generated. Method used for the disposal of wastes in the country such as
by open dumping or controlled tipping tend to cause water pollution due to the production of
landfill leachate. Landfill leachate which is a liquid produced as a result of water percolation
from the process of water infiltration, surface runoff, precipitation and liquid from the compacted
waste not only would pollute the ground water as it moved into the landfill but also the surface
water. Once leachate polluted the ground water it becomes a threat to the environment and would
create potential hazards to human health because it contains organic and inorganic substances as
well as the toxic heavy metal compounds. Improper management of disposal sites will cause
water pollution and pose short and long-term hazards and risks to the environment and the
public.

I was given water samples from landfill leachate and river water. Comparison the organic
pollution levels of the samples by measuring the BOD and COD by follow this procedure.

Procedure

Materials

Biological oxygen demand (BOD):

2 BOD bottles
1 air outlet with rubber tubing
3 x 2 ml dropper pipettes
50 ml burette
100 ml measuring cylinder
250 ml conical flask
10 ml measuring cylinder
5 ml pipette
10 ml pipette
Clean container for dilution water
1 litre measuring cylinder
Manganous sulphate solution (50%) MnSO4.4H2O
Alkali-iodide reagent
Sulphuric acid (50%) H2SO4
Thiosulphate solution (0.0125M) Na2S2O3.5H2O
Potassium iodide solution (KI)
Starch solution
Distilled or deionized water
Dilution water reagent

Chemical oxygen demand (COD):

COD reactor
Spectrophotometer
COD Digestion Reagent Vials
Distilled water
Deionized water
5 ml pipette
Test tube and rack

Method

A. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) (Winkler Titration Method):

This lab exercise measured how much oxygen is consumed through respiration and
decomposition of microscopic organisms. We can measure the BOD of a water sample,
we must know the dissolved oxygen (DO) content of the sample. The amount of DO in
water affects natural biochemical processes in two ways: by limiting the amount of
oxygen available for respiration and by affecting the solubility of essential nutrient in the
water. The decomposition of organic matter is the greatest factor in the depletion of
available oxygen in a given body of water. As the organic content of water increases,
there is a corresponding increase in bacterial activity and decrease in the dissolved
oxygen content (Figure 3.1). The dissolved oxygen content of the water is measured
under saturated conditions (the water sample contains maximum amount of oxygen it can
hold) and again after incubating for five days in the dark at approximately 20oC. The
difference between the two values is the amount used by microorganism decomposition
and is known as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
 Figure 3.1 Oxygen sag curve

1. Obtained water samples from two places you want to test and compared the organic
pollution levels. Each sample should consist two sets of bottles. One set of bottles will be
tested on day one. The second set of bottles will be stored for 5 days.
2. Prepared distilled water saturate with air and bring the temperature to 20 3C.
3. Diluted sample with distilled water saturate with air and add 1 ml of phosphate buffer, 1
ml of MgSO4, 1ml of CaCl2 and 1 ml of FeCl3 solutions to the required dilution factor
with 1 L final volume using volumetric flask.
4. Mixed the diluted sample and then poured into three clean BOD bottles so that they
overflow.
3. Inserted a stopper into the bottle and make sure there are no air bubbles adhering to the
inside of the bottles by tapping the sides and then insert the stoppers firmly.
4. Incubated one set of the bottles at 20 3C for five days.
5. To the other set of bottles add 1ml of manganous sulphate (MnSO4) solution followed by
1 ml of alkali-iodide solution. The purpose is to fix the sample so that oxygen exchange
will not occur during testing.
6. Placed the stopper firmly to exclude air bubbles and mop up any overflow of water with
tissue. This could be alkaline so TAKE CARE.
7. Hold the bottle with a finger on the lid, shake the bottle vigorously.
8. When precipitate has settled sufficiently (to approximately half the bottle volume) to
leave clear supernate above the manganese hydroxide floc, add 1 ml of concentrated
H2SO4 using a dropper pipette with the tip below the water surface.
9. Placed the stopper and mixed thoroughly (the precipitate has now dissolved and iodine
has been release to give a clear reddish brown color).
10. Titrated a volume corresponding to 200 ml original sample after correction for sample
loss by displacement with reagents. Thus for a total of 2 ml (1 ml each) of MnSO4 and
alkali-iodide-azide reagents in 300 ml bottle, titrate 200 x 300/(300-2) = 201 ml
11. Titrated with 0.025M Na2S2O3 solution to a pale straw colour.

10. Added a few drops of starch solution and a deep blue color is formed.
11. Continued the titration until the blue color disappears and note down the burette reading.
12. For titration of 200 ml sample, 1 ml of 0.025M Na2S2O3 = 1 mg/l DO.
12. The DO of incubated samples (5 days) is tested using the same procedure.
13. The BOD of a blank is determined by filling two set of bottles with dilution water and
measure its DO before and after five days (One set BOD blank can be performed for each
batch of samples)
14. BOD value is determined by the following formula:

BOD value in mg/l = [(D1-D2) (B1-B2)] /P

Where;

D1= initial DO in a sample

D2= final DO in a sample
B1= initial DO in blank
B2= final DO in blank
P= fraction of the BOD bottle that is represented by the sample or mL pipetted divided by
300mL when a 300mL bottle is used.

B. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) (Reactor Digestion Method)

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) refers to chemicals present in water that are not
biodegradable or are at least slowly degraded by microbes. It measures the amount of
oxygen required to stabilize organic matter using a strong chemical oxidant, which is
typically potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7) that reacts with the sample under controlled
conditions. The reaction that takes place in the sample is the chromate reduction of Cr6
Cr3+. This reaction may be represented as follows:

Organic + Cr2O2-7 + H+ CO2 + H2O + 2Cr3+

The dichromate-sample solution is then titrated with a standard ferrous ammonium

sulfate solution using ferroin as an indicator. The ferrous ion will react with the
dichromate ions and the mixture would eventually change in color from bluish green to
reddish brown via the following reaction.

6Fe2+ + Cr2O2-7 + 14H+ 6Fe3+ + 2Cr3+ + 7H2O

The change in color of the solution will be recorded using spectrophotometer. The
quantity of oxidant consumed is reported in terms of its oxygen equivalence of mg/L

1. Dilute sample with distilled or deionized water.

2. Turn on the COD reactor. Preheat to 150oC. CAREFULL the reactor is hot.
3. Remove the caps from two COD Digestion Reagent Vials. (Be sure to use vials
for the appropriate range)
4. Hold one vial at a 45-degree angle. Use a volumetric pipette to add 2 ml of
sample to the vial prepared sample.
 5. Hold another vial at a 45-degree angle. Use a clean volumetric pipette to add 2ml
of deionized water to the vial (blank).
6. Cap the vial tightly. Rinse them with deionized water and wipe with a clean paper
towel.
7. The vials by the cap was hold over a sink. Invert gently several times to mix.
Place the vials in the preheated COD reactor. The sample vials will become very
hot during mixing.
8. The vials was heated for two hours.
9. The reactor was turn off. Wait about 20 minutes for the vials to cool to 120oC or
less.
10. Each vial several times while still warm was inverted . The vials was placed into a
rack and cool to room temperature.
11. The COD at 420 nm (low range) or 620nm (high range) measured. COD is
measured in a unit of mg/L

Result

BOD reading after 5 days

-blank (Temperature= 232C)
Reading 1 2 3 Average
BOD mg/L 2.45 2.43 2.42 2.43

-leachate (Temperature= 231C)

Reading 1 2 3 Average
BOD mg/L 2.42 2.41 2.39 2.41

Discussion

Water pollution is very harmful to humans, animals and water life. The effects can be
catastrophic, depending on the kind of chemicals, concentrations of the pollutants and where
there are polluted. Below, we shall see a summary of the effects of water pollution

The effects of water pollution are varied and depend on what chemicals are dumped
and in which locations.

Many water bodies near urban areas (cities and towns) are highly polluted. This is the
result of both garbage dumped by individuals and dangerous chemicals legally or
illegally dumped by manufacturing industries, health centers, schools and market
places.

Death of aquatic (water) animals

The main problem caused by water pollution is that it kills organisms that depend on
these water bodies. Dead fish, crabs, birds and sea gulls, dolphins, and many other
animals often wind up on beaches, killed by pollutants in their habitat (living
environment).

Disruption of food-chains
Pollution disrupts the natural food chain as well. Pollutants such as lead and cadmium
are eaten by tiny animals. Later, these animals are consumed by fish and shellfish, and
the food chain continues to be disrupted at all higher levels.

Diseases
Eventually, humans are affected by this process as well. People can get diseases such
as hepatitis by eating seafood that has been poisoned. In many poor nations, there is
always outbreak of cholera and diseases as a result of poor drinking water treatment
from contaminated waters.

Destruction of ecosystems

Ecosystems (the interaction of living things in a place, depending on each other for life)
can be severely changed or destroyed by water pollution. Many areas are now being
affected by careless human pollution, and this pollution is coming back to hurt humans
in many ways.

Conclusion

Water pollution has many forms, all of which are damaging and none of which are
less important than the other. Whether it be oil pollution, which is a largely silent
(excluding the occasional large spill) but deadly polluter or the widely encompassing
chemical pollution which can include Persistant Organic Pollutants (including PCB's
and DDT), all water pollution have unimaginable consequences. Some of these
effects, which can also be considered further pollutants, are Acid Mine Drainage and
Eutrophication. These effects effectively choke out the water they pollute and have
the ability to devastate entire ecosystems centered on a water supply.

Questions

1. Compare the COD and BOD readings in both samples. Do you think that the landfill
leachate has polluted the nearby river? Discuss.

Yes. Leachate generation is a major problem for municipal solid waste

(MSW) landfills and causes significant threat to surface water and
groundwater. Leachate can be defined as a liquid that passes through alandfill and has
extracted dissolved and suspended matter from it

2. List the differences between BOD and COD measurements.

COD or Chemical Oxygen Demand is the total measurement of all chemicals in the water that
can be oxidized. TOC or Total Organic Carbon is the measurement of organic carbons.
BOD- Biochemical Oxygen Demand is supposed to measure the amount of food (or
organic carbons) that bacteria can oxidize.