Forecasting methods for assessment of the biodegradability of wastewater from organic separators

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of the organic matter separation process based on the BOD5/COD ratio by monitoring biodegradability parameters using forecasting methods. The main pollutants in wastewater are organic compounds (defined as BOD5 and COD) that occur in abundance, nutrients, and suspended solids. Biodegradability can be estimated based on the ratio between BOD5 and COD. Low rates may indicate a reduced susceptibility of wastewater to biodegradation. The descriptive statistics were used to identify the characteristics of the measured parameters BOD5 and COD and BOD5/COD ratio for samples of three stations with separators of organic matter, IS, SV1, SV2 GPS located in the northeastern part of Romania. Time series analysis showed that the performance of the separation process is not affected by seasonal factors. The trend of the time series with the seasonality index follows a linear model of a stationary process. The single exponential smoothing was used for the forecasting model of the variation of the degree of biodegradability of wastewater discharged following the process of comparing to the limit value of 0.4 of the BOD5/COD ratio.