What do you mean by Biological Oxygen Demand $(BOD)$?

(N/A) Biological Oxygen Demand $(BOD)$ refers to the amount of oxygen that would be consumed if all the organic matter in one litre of water were oxidized by bacteria.
- Microbes that decompose organic wastes in water bodies consume a significant amount of oxygen.
- This results in a sharp decline in dissolved oxygen downstream from the point of sewage discharge.
- This depletion of oxygen causes the mortality of fish and other aquatic creatures.
- The $BOD$ test measures the rate of oxygen uptake by micro-organisms in a water sample.
- Indirectly,$BOD$ is a measure of the organic matter present in the water.
- The greater the $BOD$ of wastewater,the higher is its polluting potential.