Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
Chemical symbol/abbreviations:
COD
Form commonly found in stormwater:
Residual food and beverage waste from cans/bottles, antifreeze, emulsified oils.
Solubility in water:
Most forms of COD are water soluble
Adverse human impacts:
Adverse impacts on the environment:
Stormwater Treatment to Remove COD
Background:
Sources of COD in stormwater are varied. However, soluble organic compounds are most likely to contribute to escalated COD concentrations. Residual food waste from bottles and cans, antifreeze, emulsified oils are all high in COD and are common sources of COD for industrial stormwater. A typical COD concentration for soda and beer is about 100,000 mg/L.
U.S. EPA recommended water quality criteria:
None. Dissolved oxygen water quality criteria depend upon natural stream temperature and dissolved oxygen level.[i]
Appendices
[i] U.S. EPA, National Recommended Water Quality Criteria, http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/wqctable/index.html#U (last visited July 7, 2010).
[ii] See National Science & Tech. Council, An Assessment of Coastal Hypoxia and Eutrophication in U.S. Waters, 2 (2003) available at http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/outreach/pdfs/coastalhypoxia.pdf.
[iii] Ambient Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen (Saltwater): Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras, 65 Fed. Reg. 71317, 71318 (Nov. 30, 2000).
[iv] Ecological Society of America, Hypoxia http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/pdfDocs/hypoxia.pdf (last visited Aug. 11, 2010).
[v] Ecological Society of America, supra.