What is Total Organic Carbon in wastewater treatment ?
Answer:
Here are several good references on measuring TOC. Normally in the USA, COD is measured as a more useful number to determine the impact on watersheds and it is also easier and cheaper. TOC is used when high organic content is suspected.
Is is fecal mater.
Basically they burn the sample and measure the carbon. It can be any organic material, but basically, most of it in "wastewater" is human waste. It does depend where the wastewater is coming from. You could call the water that goes out of your sink waste water, and the TOC found there would be mostly little bits of lettice and fat and steak what-nots from your plates.
All of the organic (carbon-containing) substances in natural waters may be termed TOC. There are many natural and man-made substances that all contribute to TOC. TOC is partly broken down by micro-organisms, in the process consuming oxygen. At high TOC concentrations, so much oxygen in the water may be used up that there is not enough to support fish and other aquatic animals, which then die.TOC can be measured directly in samples of water by treating it with chemical oxidants and then measuring the amount of carbon dioxide released. Alternatively it can be measured by determining how much oxygen it uses up during its complete oxidation to carbon dioxide. This is expressed in terms of the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). On an average the ratio COD/TOC is about 3:1.
This text was taken from the European Environment Agency glossary.
A very good definition in my opinion.
Regards, OurManInParis
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