Methods for assessing biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): A review

• Alternative methods for monitoring biochemical oxygen demand have been reviewed.
• The concepts and the technical features are described.
• Some methods allow to assess BOD in only 70 s vs 5 days with the standard method.
• Performances of the various methods have been compared.

The Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is one of the most widely used criteria for water quality assessment. It provides information about the ready biodegradable fraction of the organic load in water. However, this analytical method is time-consuming (generally 5 days, BOD5), and the results may vary according to the laboratory (20%), primarily due to fluctuations in the microbial diversity of the inoculum used.Work performed during the two last decades has resulted in several technologies that are less time-consuming and more reliable. This review is devoted to the analysis of the technical features of the principal methods described in the literature in order to compare their performances (measuring window, reliability, robustness) and to identify the pros and the cons of each method.

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