Degradation and utilization of waste water nutrients by microbial action is controlled by a complex enzyme system. In attempts to produce a faster-acting system, a method was developed to biochemically fractionate the microbial enzymes from activated sludge, to concentrate and characterize their activity, and to immobilize this activity by entrapment in a polyacrylamide gel. The enzyme gel preparation was tested for its effect on the biological degradation of a bench-scale activated sludge process. Soluble enzymatic components were readily separated from particulate cell components, and the remaining soluble system was fractioned such that catabolic activity in the enzyme systems of interest was maintained while non-essential components were removed. Immobilization within the gel allowed activity to be maintained during repeated washings, exposure to substrate, and storage. Limited bench-scale tests produced no meaningful results possibly on account of either incomplete polymerization of the gel, an improper activated sludge culture, or both.