A chemical method has been sought for the estimation of the strength of waste products of either human or industrial origin; but because of the complexity of various samples of wastes, the metabolic activities of the flora and fauna present do not necessarily follow a constant rate. Therefore a chemical method could not correlate with the biochemical determination of oxygen demand. However, it is often desirable to know in a minimum time the approximate oxygen absorbing power of a waste sample so a chemical oxygen consumed method is satisfactory for this purpose. The report compares the various methods used in this determination.