First of all, organic Loading questions are very common on operator certification exams. The great thing is that these problems are not complicated. Today, we’ll focus on a certain type of problem: organic loading into a pond.
Here’s a video that shows you how to calculate organic loading into a pond. It’s a fairly short video, so please watch it. As you’ll see, calculating organic loading is simple and straight-forward.
For a pond, the organic loading is calculated by dividing the lbs/day of BOD that flows into the pond by the surface area of the pond. If you know how to use the lbs/day formula, you should be able to solve these questions.
Here’s the formula for organic loading into a pond:
In the top of the formula, you would enter the flow rate into the pond, and the BOD. Meanwhile, in the bottom of the formula, you would enter the surface area of the pond, in acres.
Furthermore, you want to make sure the correct units are used. The flow rate is in MGD, while the BOD is in mg/L. For the surface area of the pond, make sure to use acres.
Essentially, the top of the formula is the lbs/day formula. If you don’t know this formula yet, make sure to get familiar with it before you take the wastewater operator certification test. It’s very important.
Most noteworthy, you won’t have to memorize this formula for the operator test. It’s provided to you on the formula sheet. However, if you solve a lot of these problems, you’ll probably end up memorizing it.
Lastly, if you need more help with wastewater math, check out our online course.
I suggest you try to solve at least a few organic loading practice questions on your own. Click here for practice tests with similar math problems.
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Practice Tests for Wastewater Treatment Operator Certification