Chemical Oxygen Demand

In environmental chemistry, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) test is commonly used to indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water. Most applications of COD determine the amount of organic pollutants found in surface water (e.g. lakes and rivers) or wastewater, making COD a useful measure of water quality. It is expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/L) also referred to as ppm (parts per million), which indicates the mass of oxygen consumed per liter of solution.

Read more about Chemical Oxygen Demand:  Overview, History, Using Potassium Dichromate, Preparation Ferroin Indicator Reagent, Inorganic Interference, Government Regulation

Famous quotes containing the words chemical, oxygen and/or demand:

    We are close to dead. There are faces and bodies like gorged maggots on the dance floor, on the highway, in the city, in the stadium; they are a host of chemical machines who swallow the product of chemical factories, aspirin, preservatives, stimulant, relaxant, and breathe out their chemical wastes into a polluted air. The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again.
    Norman Mailer (b. 1923)

    All the oxygen of the world was in them.
    All the feet of the babies of the world were in them.
    All the crotches of the angels of the world were in them.
    All the morning kisses of Philadelphia were in them.
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)

    Just as the performance of the vilest and most wicked deeds requires spirit and talent, so even the greatest demand a certain insensitivity which under other circumstances we would call stupidity.
    —G.C. (Georg Christoph)