CORRELATION BETWEEN BOD5 AND COD FOR AL- DIWANIYAH WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS TO OBTAIN THE BIODIGRABILITY INDICES

The present study aims to establish an empirical correlation between biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the sewage flowing in Al-Diwaniyah wastewater treatment plant. The strength of the wastewater entering the plant varied from medium to high. High concentrations of BOD5 and COD in the effluent were obtained due to the poor performance of the plant. This was observed from the BOD5 /COD ratios that did not confirm with the typical ratios for the treated sewage. Regression equations for BOD5 and COD removal percentages were suggested which can be used to evaluate rapid effluent assessment after the treatment processes or optimal process control to improve the performance of wastewater treatment plants. The average Biodegradability indices (B.I) of Al-Diwaniyah wastewater plants was found to be 0.69. The equations relating the percentage removal of BOD5(y) with influent BOD5(x), y= 0.044x + 80.66 and the percentage removal of COD (y) with influent COD (x), y= 0.045x + 55.15 were found with high correlation R2 =0.72 and 0.86 respectively.