This investigation explores three aspects of the economics of advanced waste treatment. It identifies the streams in the nation for which the major portion of the municipal waste discharges thereto have received the highest possible degree of conventional treatment, i.e., those for which advanced waste treatment would be the next step in further pollution control. It surveys, by means of a sample of 155 cities, the extent to which the surface water sources of municipalities contain water which has previously passed through an upstream municipal waste collection and/or waste treatment system. It explores advanced waste treatment itself and certain ultimate disposal measures for possible logistical imbalances with regard to the use of materials and resources.