A BOD Sensor Using Immobilized Microbial Consortium in Alginate-Based Matrix for Rapid Detection of River Water Pollution

The development of a rapid sensor for biochemical oxygen demand (bod) is important for rapid determination of the degree of pollution in river water. a short-term bod (bodst) has been developed using a consortium of locally isolated bacteria as the sensing element. ysi 52 dissolved oxygen meter has been used to measure the oxygen uptake in the test solutions. of the three alginate-based matrices, namely calcium alginate, calcium alginate-gluteraldehyde and polyvinyl alcohol-sodium alginate (pva-sa), calcium alginate-gluteraldehyde was found to be the best microbial immobilization method. typical response time of the developed bodst sensor was 8 minutes, and the immobilized microorganisms were suitable for single use. bod response was observed at 37°c and ph7.0. for river waters, the bod values estimated by the bodst biosensor correlated well with those determined by conventional bod5 test using artificial wastewater (aww) as the calibration solution.