ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY Vol. II Chemistry of Wastewater - Timothy G.

Ellis

CHEMISTRY OF WASTEWATER
Timothy G. Ellis
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State
University, Ames, Iowa, USA
Keywords: wastewater, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand,
suspended solids, turbidity, nitrogen, phosphorus, nitrification, denitrification,
surfactant, endocrine disruptors, Ascaris, nitrosomonas, nitrobacter, Schistosomiasis,
hypoxic zone, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, olfactometer

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Contents
1. Introduction
2. Wastewater Analysis
2.1. Biochemical Oxygen Demand
2.2. Chemical Oxygen Demand
2.3. Solids
2.4. Nitrogen
2.5. Phosphorus
2.6. Bacteriological
3. Wastewater Composition
3.1. General
3.2. Municipal
3.3. Endocrine Disruptors
4. Wastewater Quantities
5. Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Biographical Sketch
Summary

The chemistry of wastewater reflects human activities. Industrial, agricultural, and

municipal activities are represented by the wastewater produced in each. Due to its
value and scarcity, wastewater is treated, discharged to a receiving stream, and
withdrawn for reuse by the downstream population. Consequently, the chemical and
bacteriological composition must be monitored to ensure the public health. In addition,
the oxygen consuming material in the wastewater must be minimized to protect the
receiving stream from low dissolved oxygen conditions which can be deleterious to
desirable aquatic species. Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, should be
removed to prevent eutrophication and siltation. Microbiological contaminants and
other pollutants should be removed to protect downstream users, including contact users
(e.g. boaters and swimmers). Typical municipal wastewater contains about 220 mg L-1
of both suspended solids and BOD. The organic composition of wastewater is
approximately 50 percent proteins, 40 percent carbohydrates, 10 percent fats and oils,
and trace amounts of priority pollutants and surfactants. The microbiological

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ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY Vol. II Chemistry of Wastewater - Timothy G. Ellis

composition of wastewater includes 105-108 CFU coliform organisms, 103-104 CFU

fecal streptococci, 101-103 protozoan cysts, and 101-102 virus particles. This chapter
discusses the water quality parameters concerning wastewater composition, generation,
and treatment.
1. Introduction

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Wastewater is the liquid end-product, or by-product, of municipal, agricultural, and

industrial activity. As such, the chemical composition of wastewater naturally reflects
the origin from which it came. In fact, the chemistry of wastewater reflects to a very
high degree the chemistry of life. Just as wastewater chemistry reflects chemistry of
human activities in life, so too, does wastewater microbiology reflect the microbiology
of human activities in life. It is perhaps the microbiology of wastewater that presents the
greatest concern to humanity from a public health standpoint.
The term wastewater, however implies that it is a waste product to be discarded in an
environmentally sound manner. This could not be farther from the truth. In fact, the
worlds available fresh water supply is about 3 percent of that total water supply. Only
20 percent of this amount is available for use in drinking water supplies. The remainder
of the world water is salt water, which is costly to desalinate for drinking water
purposes. Consequently, the water we use for drinking, washing, bathing, etc. ultimately
ends up back in the stream, river, lake, or groundwater where it will be withdrawn,
treated, and used again (see Water Quality). While it is not necessarily a positive mental
image, the drinking water we are using today was the wastewater discharged by another
community yesterday, or the day before, or the day before. Consequently, the chemical
and microbiological composition of that wastewater must be monitored in order to
safeguard downstream users. Current water use standards are enacted with this in mind.
Table 1 provides a list of wastewater contaminants that are of concern, and the reasons
that they are of concern.
Contaminants
Oxygen consuming organic
matter

Suspended solids

Nutrients

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Reason for importance

Composed principally of proteins, carbohydrates,
and fats, biodegradable organics are measured most
commonly in terms of BOD (biochemical oxygen
demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand.) If
discharged untreated to the environment, their
biological stabilization can lead to the depletion of
natural oxygen resources and to the development of
septic conditions.
Suspended solids can lead to the development of
sludge deposits and anaerobic conditions when
untreated wastewater is discharged in the aquatic
environment.
Both nitrogen and phosphorus, along with carbon,
are essential nutrients for growth. When discharged
to the aquatic environment, these nutrients can lead
to the growth of undesirable aquatic life. When

ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY Vol. II Chemistry of Wastewater - Timothy G. Ellis

Priority pollutants

Refractory organics

Heavy metals

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Pathogens

discharged in excessive amounts on land, they can

also lead to the pollution of groundwater.
Organic and inorganic compounds selected on the
basis of their known or suspected carcinogenicity,
mutagenicity, teratogenicity, or high acute toxicity.
Many of these compounds are found in wastewater.
These organics tend to resist conventional methods
of wastewater treatment. Typical examples include
surfactants, phenols, and agricultural pesticides.
Heavy metals are usually added to wastewater from
commercial and industrial activities and may have
to be removed if the wastewater is to be reused.
Communicable diseases can be transmitted by the
pathogenic organisms in wastewater.
Inorganic constituents such as calcium, sodium, and
sulfate are added to the original domestic water
supply as a result of water use and may have to be
removed if the wastewater is to be reused.

Dissolved inorganics

Table 1. Important contaminants of concern in wastewater

Adapted from Metcalf and Eddy (1991) Wastewater Engineering. Treatment Disposal
Reuse, G. Tchobanoglous and F.L. Burton (Eds.), 1820 pp. New York: McGraw-Hill.
2. Wastewater Analysis

Analysis of wastewater typically concentrates on the water quality parameters that

affect the receiving stream. For instance, if the receiving stream for a wastewater
discharge is a lake, the nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, in the wastewater may be the
primary concern. Nutrients discharged to a lake or river can cause eutrophication, a
condition that degrades water quality by increasing algae growth, depleting dissolved
oxygen concentrations, and increasing sedimentation (see Eutrophication and Algal
Blooms). If the receiving stream is a high quality river, the primary concern may be the
oxygen consuming organics in the wastewater. Oxygen depletion in the river could lead
to deterioration in the quality and diversity of fish species, and severe oxygen depletion
will cause fish kills. The biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand
tests both measure the oxygen consuming organics in a wastewater sample. These tests
do not identify individual components in the wastewater, but rather provide an
indication of what effect the wastewater might have if discharged to a receiving stream
where the dissolved oxygen concentration is impacted. Oxygen is sparingly soluble in
water (e.g. at 25C the equilibrium saturation concentration of oxygen in water is only
8.24 mg L-1). The quality of the fish habitat begins to decrease when the dissolved
oxygen concentration drops below 4 or 5 mg L-1. Consequently, even if the receiving
stream is at saturation, which is unlikely, that leaves only 3 or 4 mg L-1 of oxygen to be
used for assimilation of the wastewater discharge.
2.1. Biochemical Oxygen Demand

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ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY Vol. II Chemistry of Wastewater - Timothy G. Ellis

In order to measure the extent to which a wastewater discharge will impact the
dissolved oxygen concentration in a receiving stream (i.e. the body of water that the
wastewater is discharged into), a measure of the oxygen consuming organic matter must
be determined. One way to determine this is to measure the disappearance of oxygen
from a bottle containing oxygen saturated water, a prescribed volume of the wastewater
sample, a small amount of active biomass (primarily bacteria) seed, and any necessary
nutrients for biomass growth. This is a direct measurement of the oxygen consuming
capacity of the wastewater and is termed the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) test
(see Biochemical Oxygen Demand).
The general form of the equation for decomposition of organic matter during the BOD
test is:
biomass

(1)

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organic matter+nutrients+O2 CO 2 +H 2 O+biomass

It should be noted that oxygen is consumed in the reaction and biomass is the catalyst
for the reaction. Actually, the organic matter is the growth substrate (carbon and energy
source) for the generation of new biomass, an end product of the reaction. Essential
macro- and trace nutrients are also required for sustained growth of the microorganisms.
Using glucose as an example (and ignoring the substrate being incorporated into
biomass):
C6 H12 O6 +6O 2 6CO 2 +6H 2 O

(2)

The theoretical BOD of glucose can be calculated as:

grams of oxygen used

632
192
=
=
grams of substrate used 612+12+66 180
1.067gBOD
=
grams of substrate utilized
BOD=

(3)

As the biodegradation of organic matter proceeds, its remaining oxygen demand

decreases. At any given time the rate of biodegradation can be modeled as a first order
reaction (i.e. as a function of the remaining oxygen demand). A portion of the organic
matter is also converted into cell material, or biomass, so its concentration is changing
as well. If we were to look at all three events on the same plot of relative oxygen
concentration versus time, it might look like that in Figure 1.

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ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY Vol. II Chemistry of Wastewater - Timothy G. Ellis

Figure 1. Theoretical plot of substrate disappearance, biomass growth, and oxygen

consumption. Plot was generated with kinetic parameters similar to those typically
measured for xenobiotic compounds and assumes a significant population of acclimated
biomass.
The actual shape of plot will be determined by the experimental conditions at the
beginning of the batch test (e.g. quantity of biomass seed, nature of substrate,
acclimation of biomass, etc.). It should also be noted that, in this case, the initial oxygen
demand of the substrate equals the sum of the oxygen consumed during the test and the
concentration of biomass produced in oxygen units. In other words, one could perform a
mass balance in terms of oxygen units. In practice, a mass balance on BOD is not very
practical due to the high degree of variability in the BOD test.
In the laboratory procedure for determining the BOD concentration, the amount of
biomass generated is considered negligible (or inconsequential), and only the two
events (substrate depletion and oxygen consumption) are therefore considered.
Depending on the biomass yield (milligrams of biomass formed per milligram of
substrate utilized) and the experimental conditions, the actual measured concentration
of BOD will vary. In fact, several measurements of the same sample (at the same
dilution) are usually required to obtain reliable and reproducible results from the BOD
test.
One of the potential difficulties in the BOD test is the interference of nitrification. The
normal BOD test determines the carbonaceous BOD and excludes the effects of
nitrification. Nitrification is the two-step process whereby ammonia is transformed to
nitrate by autotrophic organisms (those that use an inorganic energy source and CO2 for
growth) as follows:
nitrosomonas

2NH 3 +3O 2

2NO -2 +2H + +O 2

2NO-2 +2H + +2H 2 O

(4)

nitrobacter

2NO3- +2H +

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(5)

ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY Vol. II Chemistry of Wastewater - Timothy G. Ellis

As can be seen from these two equations, the amount of oxygen required for
nitrification is significant (and can actually exceed the amount of oxygen required to
satisfy the BOD). Stoichiometrically, each milligram of nitrogen from ammonia (NH3N) requires 4.57 mg of oxygen to transform it biochemically to nitrate. If a wastewater
contains 200 mg L-1 BOD5 and 44 mg L-1 NH3-N, the oxygen required for BOD
removal and nitrification will be approximately the same. In practice, the total oxygen
requirement is not realized since some of the ammonia is converted into new cell
material, and the actual demand is usually closer to 4.3 mg O2 per mg NH3-N. In
practice, however, the value of 4.57 mg O2 per mg NH3-N is often used as a
conservative estimate.

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In the BOD test, the carbonaceous BOD is usually the desired measurement since
ammonia can be measured quickly and directly (e.g. using an ammonia probe). On the
other hand, the BOD test is typically run for 5 days (designated as BOD5). The reason
for the 5-day BOD dates back to the early 19th Century in England where it was
determined that it took approximately 5 days for wastewater to travel from London to
the mouth of the Thames River. Thus, by the time the wastewater traveled to the mouth
of the river, its 5-day oxygen demand had been realized, and the impact on the river
could be accounted for. The five-day time period is also convenient since it usually
takes the slow growing nitrifiers in the seed culture longer than five days to achieve
significant numbers to impact the oxygen consumption noticeably. Nevertheless,
Standard Methods published in 1998 recommend the use of a nitrification inhibitor
during the BOD test so that only oxygen uptake associated with the oxidation of organic
compounds (i.e. carbonaceous BOD or CBOD) is measured during the test. This
inhibitor, allylthiourea, is not thought to significantly affect the growth of the
heterotrophic organisms (those organisms that use the carbonaceous BOD as a carbon
and energy source).
2.2. Chemical Oxygen Demand

An alternative to the BOD test for determining the oxygen consuming potential of a
wastewater sample is the chemical oxygen demand (COD) test. As the name implies,
the carbonaceous oxygen demand is oxidized chemically in the COD test. Like BOD,
the units for COD are in milligrams of oxygen per liter (mg L-1). The advantage of this
test is that it is quick and reproducible. The disadvantage is that not all of the measured
COD can be degraded biologically. Therefore, there is still a need to ascertain what the
biodegradable portion of the oxygen demand is, since that is how the performance of
biological wastewater treatment systems (e.g. activated sludge, trickling filters,
anaerobic digesters, rotating biological contactors, oxidation ponds, and lagoons) will
be evaluated. In addition, the BOD (not COD) is the component that is expected to
induce an oxygen demand in the receiving stream. There are also some interferences in
the COD test. For instance, low molecular weight fatty acids and aromatic hydrocarbons
may not be well oxidized during the test and inorganic ions (chloride and nitrite for
instance) may be oxidized. The addition of certain catalysts during the test can eliminate
most of these interferences.

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The real advantage of the COD test is that it is a measure of the energetics of the
system. If one wants to keep track of a biological reaction, they must know what the
energetics of the reaction are (i.e. what are the electron donors and electron acceptors
for the system). Microorganisms degrade pollutants in biological treatment systems to
our benefit, but also so that they can grow and reproduce. They require two major
things: carbon and energy for growth. They also need lesser quantities of macro
nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur in addition to trace amounts of
micronutrients. If we can keep track of the flow of carbon and the flow of energy in a
system, we can understand the nature and extent of the biochemical reactions occurring.
If we can keep track of, and manipulate, the biochemical reactions, we can engineer
biological treatment systems to our advantage. The two main items to monitor are
carbon and energy. Unfortunately, carbon is difficult to keep track of since upon
mineralization of an organic compound, it is solubilized in water or released as a gas in
the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). The best way to track changes in carbon species is
through 14C labeling, but this obviously requires sophisticated laboratory procedures
and equipment (e.g. radiolabeled carbon compounds and liquid scintillation counting).
Energy equivalents, or specifically electrons, are much easier to measure. When we
measure the amount of oxygen consumed in a reaction, we are in essence measuring the
electrons transferred from the organic compound to the terminal electron acceptor (i.e.
oxygen). Performing a mass balance on electrons is much simpler than on carbon, since
all we need to do to balance electrons is measure the chemical oxygen demand of our
starting and end products and measure the amount of oxygen consumed during the
reaction (or methane produced if it is an anaerobic or methane producing reaction).
For instance, consider the reaction in Eq. (2) in which glucose is converted to carbon
dioxide and water by a stoichiometric amount of oxygen (1.067 milligrams of oxygen
per milligram of glucose). If we know the concentration of glucose both before and after
biological treatment and calculate the biomass concentration before and after, we will
know how much oxygen was consumed during the conversion of glucose to biomass
and end products. This way we have a much better indication of what the reactions are
than if we simply measure the total carbon concentration before and after treatment. In
addition, the analysis of COD is much more practical than the analysis for specific
pollutants.
The advantages of the COD test are that it is relatively fast and the results are
reproducible. The disadvantage is that it measures everything, including nonbiodegradable organic matter that can be oxidized by potassium dichromate. In addition,
the test produces a small amount of hazardous waste that must be disposed of properly.
Thus, the measured oxygen demand in the COD test may differ due to sampling and
analytical error, and possible interferences in the COD procedure. The measured BOD
may differ for the same reasons in addition to the fact that a portion of the compound
will be incorporated into new biomass. A list of the theoretical oxygen demand of a
variety of substances that can be found in municipal and industrial wastewater is
provided in a book by Pitter and Chudoba published in 1990. The list of chemicals is
organized by compound type (e.g. hydrocarbons, alcohols/phenols, aldehydes, ketones,
quinones, organic and amino acids, esters, ethers, amines, amides, nitriles, halogen and
nitro- derivatives, heterocyclic compounds, saccharides, alkyl benzene sulfonates and
alkyl sulfates, dyes, and miscellaneous substances). From this extensive list of

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ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY Vol. II Chemistry of Wastewater - Timothy G. Ellis

chemicals, two points should be noted. First, there is a large number of compounds that
can be present in a wastewater samples. Second, the oxygen demand that could be
exerted from a known quantity of a specific pollutant can be quickly determined.
2.3. Solids

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Solids are an important constituent to measure in any wastewater sample. Solids in a

wastewater effluent represent a pollutant load in addition to a potential sediment load on
a receiving stream. There are two main categories of solids: suspended and dissolved.
Typically, the division between the two is somewhat arbitrary. For instance, whatever is
filtered out of a sample by a 0.45-1.2 :m filter is considered suspended solids.
Dissolved solids are constituents that pass through the filter. Within the dissolved and
suspended solids classification, the solids can be further characterized as volatile or
fixed solids. Volatile solids will combust at a temperature of 550C and fixed solids will
not. The implication is that the volatile solids represent the organic portion of the solids.
In a biological treatment system, the volatile solids are often associated with the
biomass and can be used as a measure of the microorganism population. The difficulty
with this assumption is that often the organic solids in the wastewater fed to the system
are incorporated into total solids retained in the system. Determining the volatile portion
of these solids does not guarantee that the solids are part of the active degrading
population. Therefore, care must be exercised in correlating the volatile solids
concentration with the microbial population.
The dissolved solids in the sample include the organic pollutants in solution
(carbohydrates, proteins, fats, oils, surfactants, volatile acids, urea, ammonia, trace
pollutants) as well as inorganic compounds, some of which were present in the source
drinking water. Table 2 shows the relationship between suspended, dissolved, fixed, and
volatile solids.
Total Solids (TS)

Total Suspended Solids (TSS)

Total Dissolved Solids

(TDS)

Total Volatile Solids

(TVS)

Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS)

Volatile Dissolved Solids

(VDS)

Total Fixed Solids (TFS)

Fixed Suspended Solids (FSS)

Fixed Dissolved Solids

(FDS)

Table 2. Solids matrix showing the relationship between volatile, fixed, dissolved, and
suspended solids. Rows can be added from the bottom to get the constituents on the top
(e.g. FSS+VSS=TSS) and analogously columns can be added from the right (e.g.
TDS+TSS=TS).

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Bibliography

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Csuros M., Csuros C. (1999). Microbiological Examination of Water and Wastewater, 324 pp. Boca
Raton, Florida, USA: CRC Press. [This text provides a brief but comprehensive description of some of
the microbiological characteristics of natural water sources.]
Ellis T.G., Eliosov B. (2002). Field Validation of Biokinetic Coefficients for Predicting Degradation of
Organic Compounds, Project 98-CTS-3 final report submitted to the Water Environment Research
Foundation, 160 pp. Alexandria, Virginia, USA. [This report provides details on predicting the removal
efficiencies and effluent concentrations of individual contaminants in wastewater treatment plants.]
Metcalf and Eddy (1991). Wastewater Engineering. Treatment Disposal Reuse. G. Tchobanoglous, F.L.
Burton (Eds.), pp. 1820. New York: McGraw-Hill. [This is an indispensable volume on the design of
wastewater treatment systems.]
Pitter P., Chudoba J. (1990). Biodegradability of Organic Substances in the Aquatic Environment, 306
pp. Boca Raton, Florida, USA: CRC Press. [This is a unique book that compiles biodegradation rate data
for an extensive list of organic compounds.]
Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (1998) American Public Health
Association, American Water Works Association, and Water Environment Federation, 20th Edition, 1220
pp. Washington, D.C. [This is an essential handbook describing the analytical methods used for water
and wastewater.]
Biographical Sketch

Timothy Ellis has been teaching in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental
Engineering at Iowa State University since 1995. Currently he is an Associate Professor of
Environmental Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in environmental systems engineering in 1995 at
Clemson University with Professor Les Grady where he furthered the development of respirometric
techniques for measuring biodegradation rates of xenobiotic organic compounds. He received his M.Sc.
degree in environmental engineering in 1988 at Georgia Tech with Dr. Fred Pohland where he studied the
biodegradation of consumer polymer products in simulated landfill environments. In addition to his
graduate studies, he has worked for Parsons Engineering Science in Fairfax, Virginia and in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates where he was involved in the process design of water and wastewater treatment
facilities, including a 10 million gallons per day (MGD) sequencing batch reactor (SBR) facility for the
City of Abu Dhabi. Prior to his masters degree, he worked for the City of Baltimore at the Back River
Wastewater Treatment Plant in process control, design, and start-up.
At Iowa State University Dr. Ellis has been involved in teaching and research in biological processes for
the treatment of wastewater and residuals. His recent research involves several new technologies,
including the static granular bed reactor (SGBR), an anaerobic process that takes advantage of anaerobic
bacterias propensity to form dense granules. He is also involved in research to provide early warning
detection of toxic or inhibitory compounds in water and wastewater. He is active in committees with the
American Society of Civil Engineers, Water Environment Research Foundation, and Water Environment
Federation. He has authored or co-authored over 50 publications appearing in international journals and
conference proceedings. He has been the major professor for over 20 MS and PhD students. In addition,
he holds a patent for the SGBR (U.S. Patent 6,709,591).

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