Biochemical Oxygen Demand and Total Suspended Solids Summaries from California Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) are two key water quality parameters for wastewater. In California, facilities submit detailed data to regional and state regulatory agencies to comply with discharge permits. The aggregated data can be used for trends analysis. A script was developed that uses this self-reported data taken from the California Integrated Water Quality System Project (CIWQS) to compile a single composite summary database of yearly wastewater influent flows, constituent concentrations, and constituent mass loadings at individual wastewater treatment facilities. Data from 426 wastewater treatment facilities was accessed through CIWQS. 104 facilities had adequate BOD data and 105 facilities had adequate TSS data. The intended use of the summary sheet is to compare influent flow and constituent values between a period of drought-related water use restrictions and the following period of eased restrictions.