A quantitative measure of the amount of oxygen required to oxidize all organic components in a unit volume on waste water - non-biodegradable as well as the BOD. The COD level can be determined more readily than BOD, but this measurement does not indicate how much of the waste can be decomposed by biological oxidation (www.bugsatwork.com). the amount of oxygen required for chemical oxidation of pollutants in water. The higher the COD, the higher the water pollution (www.pref.mie.jp)