What are Dissolved Oxygen and 5-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand? Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and 5-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) are two important parameters indicating the general conditions of water.
Dissolved Oxygen indicates the total amount of oxygen dissolved in the river and stream water. Most aquatic organisms need oxygen for respiration and maintenance of life. Dissolved oxygen content in water can also be affected by natural factors including weather, temperature, water turbulence, hydrological conditions, algal blooms, etc.
5-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand measures the amount of oxygen consumed by microorganisms in decomposing organic matters in water. It is generally used to reflect the level of organic pollution of environmental water.
The recent DO and BOD5 data at selected stations in 12 major rivers and streams are available on this web page. (Please use UTF-8 encoding to view result)
