Instant and reliable estimation of BOD by developing a mixed culture based BOD biosensor

Amongst all the parameters for which the waste-water is to be monitored, BOD is the most important and widely used parameter to indicate the strength of water pollution. In an era where speedy, sensitive, small, portable, instant and real time measuring devices have replaced the conventional analytical method, BOD is still being carried out using the classical method which requires a long incubation period and considerable skill rendering it tedious for direct process control. Thus, it is necessary to develop a method that could circumvent the weaknesses of the conventional method. BOD biosensors are one such category of analytical device as described by (Karube 1977) and BOD beads sensor offers practical alternative to all such problems. Present study deals with the development of microbial biosensor based on a synergistic consortium of nine bacteria immobilized in an appropriate immobilizing agent resulting in the formation of beads and the beads are used for instant BOD estimation using an electronic device. BOD of a wide range of industrial wastewaters samples could be assessed within a short time period (5-10 minutes).