Toward TOC and Beyond

BOD or biochemical oxygen demand is one of the old parameters for organic contamination of wastewater that has over 100 years of oldness. It is important is to the extent that all regulation organizations use it for inspection. BOD has some limitations that defined over the time. COD or Chemical Oxygen Demand introduced and used after BOD but with improvements in technology, replacement of TOC with BOD and COD was proposed. Considering the development of precision instruments in all aspects of life and the widespread deployment of instrumentation in various areas of the environment, decision makers should look for parameters that are rapidly obtainable with modern equipment as the timing of experiments will be ineffective. In addition, a general effort is needed to conduct this kind of research in universities so that the relationships between these parameters can be accurately investigated so that academic centers can be responsive to the needs of industry and society. This review paper wants to find the advantages and disadvantages of these parameters as well as to study the current situation of regulations, inspection, design, operations, control and monitoring of wastewater treatment plants and their future.