Fish and other aquatic life depend on dissolved oxygen in the water for survival. It is critical for wastewater treatment plants to measure Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) to quantify the potential for effluent water to deplete the oxygen in the receiving stream. If not controlled, discharged wastewater can rob the receiving stream of this oxygen and have significant negative effects on the environment. Measuring BOD is required as part of the environmental discharge permit and is an important parameter to evaluate the effectiveness of the wastewater treatment operation.
