Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) Test  NEWEA - New England Water
Environment Association Tim Loftus, Chief Chemist and Industrial
Pretreatment Coordinator at the Webster-Dudley Wastewater
Treatment   and a member of NEWEA Lab Practices Committee,
states, "Obviously, the BOD test is not the most scientifically
based test we perform. As such, it has many problems associated
with it. The most significant problem is that the results come
five days after the fact. By that time you’ve already discharged
any problem wastewater. Then the variability of the seed must be
constantly monitored. Sometimes the bacteria wants to work,
sometimes they don’t. Again, by the time you find out, it is
five days too late. Some analysts support the use of
respirometry to give more timely results, but regulatory
agencies have not fully accepted the methods yet so NPDES
permits continue to specify that we perform the standard 5-day
BOD test."  Loftus adds, "There is no absolute BOD value of a
sample as there would be for say copper or