A simple biological method to estimate the readily biodegradable organic matter in wastewater

A simple method was proposed to measure the readily biodegradable COD in wastewater. The method, denoted as the single-OUR method, is based on monitoring the oxygen concentration decrease in a single oxygen utilization measurement. The oxygen consumption related to readily biodegradable COD can be estimated from the oxygen concentration profile. In order to transfer this oxygen consumption to the readily biodegradable COD a calibration curve is needed. For the evaluation of the method a batch OUR test was performed in parallel. A good agreement between the two methods was obtained.