Technical Bulletin No. 0764: Comparison of Chemical Oxygen Demand Analysis Methods Applied to Pulp and Paper Mill Wastewaters

This report presents the results of a comparative study of four different analysis methods for the determination of chemical oxygen demand (COD). Three of these methods [open reflux (410.1), micro titrimetric (5220C), and micro colorimetric (410.4)] are based on potassium dichromate as the chemical oxidant, while the fourth method (Mn III) uses manganese as the oxidant. Each COD analysis method was tested for accuracy and precision by analyzing a series of KHP standard solutions. Average errors for all methods were within 6% when analyzing the KHP standard solutions.