Introduction:

The organic material is a source of damage to the environmental and superficial water, nevertheless, the direct and continuous measurement of this, either COT, BOD, or COD, is difficult and has a relatively high cost. A method currently used to monitor the organic material in real time is by means of the spectral absorption coefficient at a wavelength of 254nm (SAC254).

Objective:

Evaluate the precision of measurement and the level of correlation between COD and the value of SAC254.

Materials and methods:

Two practical tests of organic measurement systems with this technology (SAC254) were carried out, a test was conducted in a domestic wastewater treatment plant owned by SEDAPAL and another in an industrial wastewater treatment plant owned by PROTISA. The measurement system employed included an in-line sensor with SAC254 and a data logger capable of correlating parameters SAC254 and COD.

Results:

An average error of 13% was observed in the measurement system, the SAC254 proved to be a practical tool in terms of easy handling, reagent-free and suitability for use in both domestic and industrial wastewater.

Conclusion:

The measurement system installed allowed us to verify that there is indeed a direct relationship between the SAC254 factor and the COD, as SAC254 increased, it also increased the COD value and vice versa, therefore it is a good indicator that would optimize efficiency of the process and execute an effective control.