ROBOTIC AUTOMATION OF ROUTINE ENVIRONMENTAL WATER-MONITORING ASSAYS (BOD TEST)

The biochemical oxygen demand test (BOD) is used for determining the r elative oxygen requirements of municipal and industrial wastewaters ba sed upon the organic matter present. The procedure measures the dissol ved oxygen consumed by microbial life, which assimilates and oxidizes the organic matter. The test, like many environmental monitoring assay s, is time-consuming, tedious, and has simple chemistries, making it a n excellent candidate for automation. This report describes the automa tion of the BOD assay using a laboratory robot and the validation and implementation of the automated system into a environmental testing la boratory. A Zymate II Laboratory Automation System (Zymark Corporation , Hopkinton, MA) was used to automate the BOD analysis. Application of the system to environmental standards (commercial reference demand st andards and Glucose/Glutamic Acid standards) as well as comparison to assays performed on routine samples using an established manual proced ures verified that the system provides accurate and reliable BOD assay results.