ROBOTIC AUTOMATION OF ROUTINE ENVIRONMENTAL WATER-MONITORING ASSAYS (BOD TEST)

The biochemical oxygen demand test (BOD) is used for determining the relative oxygen requirements of municipal and industrial wastewaters based upon the organic matter present. The procedure measures the dissolved oxygen consumed by microbial life, which assimilates and oxidizes the organic matter. The test, like many environmental monitoring assays, is time-consuming, tedious, and has simple chemistries, making it an excellent candidate for automation. This report describes the automation of the BOD assay using a laboratory robot and the validation and implementation of the automated system into a environmental testing laboratory. A Zymate II Laboratory Automation System (Zymark Corporation, Hopkinton, MA) was used to automate the BOD analysis. Application of the system to environmental standards (commercial reference demand standards and Glucose/Glutamic Acid standards) as well as comparison to assays performed on routine samples using an established manual procedures verified that the system provides accurate and reliable BOD assay results.