Batch test for characterisation of the carbonaceous materials in municipalwastewaters

As input to the current mathematical models for activated sludge systems, i t is necessary to quantitatively characterise the influent COD. Existing me thods are complex and time-consuming, or require activated sludge seed accl imatised to the wastewater, which may not be available. A batch test proced ure is presented to quantify five influent COD fractions - unbiodegradable soluble (USOD) and particulate (UPCOD), readily (RBCOD) and slowly (SBCOD) biodegradable, and heterotrophic active biomass (HAB). The method is relati vely simple and does not require acclimatised activated sludge. For RBCOD a nd USCOD, results from the batch test correlate closely with those from con ventional methods. However, for UPCOD and SBCOD, the correlation with conve ntional tests is poor, and the batch test estimates are not sufficiently ac curate for design and simulation; this aspect requires further investigatio n. For HAB, the batch lest estimates could not be evaluated as no conventio nal tests for this parameter are available.