COD Standards

COD Test: The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) test uses a strong chemical oxidant in an acid solution and heat to oxidize organic carbon to CO2 and H2O.
By definition, chemical oxygen demand is “a measure of the oxygen equivalent of the organic matter content of a sample that is susceptible to oxidation by a strong chemical oxidant.”* Oxygen demand is determined by measuring the amount of oxidant consumed using titrimetric or photometric methods.
The test is not adversely affected by toxic substances, and test data is available in 1-1/2 to 3 hours, providing faster water quality assessment and process control. COD test results can also be used to estimate the BOD results on a given sample.
An empirical relationship exists between BOD, COD and TOC. However, the specific relationship must be established for each sample. Once correlation has been established, the test is useful for monitoring and control.