EVALUATION OF THE OPERATIONAL STABILITY OF BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND BIOSENSORS IN WASTEWATER CONTAMINATED BY HEAVY METAL IONS
The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) sensor based on an immobilized culture of microorganisms in combination with a dissolved oxygen electrode has been developed for the purpose of online monitoring of the organic pollution of wastewater. A general problem of all BOD sensors is in measuring samples containing heavy metal ions. The result of this study clearly demonstrates the need to use heavy metal resistant strains, while measuring the BOD of waste water contaminated by heavy metal ions. It’s because even small concentration of heavy metal ions can have significant impact on operational stability of biochemical oxygen demand biosensors.