Glossary of Terms
BOD
COD
SBR
Carbon Reduction Commitment
BOD
BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) is a measure of the amount of oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. It is most commonly expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre of sample during 5 days of incubation at 20°C, and is often used as a robust surrogate of the degree of organic pollution of water. BOD can be used as a gauge of the effectiveness ofwastewater treatment plants.
COD
COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) 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), making COD a useful measure of water quality. It is expressed in milligrams per litre (mg/L), which indicates the mass of oxygen consumed per litre of solution.
SBR
SBR (Sequencing Batch Reactors) is a specific process for the treatment of wastewater. SBRs treat wastewater such as sewage or output from anaerobic digesters or mechanical biological treatment facilities in batches. Oxygen is transferred into the wastewater to reduce bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) to make the final effluent suitable for discharge into sewers or for irrigation, wash down water and reuse in building WC systems.
Carbon Reduction Commitment
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (often referred to as simply ‘the CRC’) is a mandatory scheme aimed at improving energy efficiency and cutting emissions in large public and private sector organisations. These organisations are responsible for around 10% of the UK’s emissions. The scheme features a range of reputational, behavioural and financial drivers, which aim to encourage organisations to develop energy management strategies that promote a better understanding of energy usage HERE. Source: UK government website (www.gov.uk)
