Post-1974 literature on wastewater treatment was retrieved by on-line searching of eight databases. From 1,000 articles critically examined, 600 were used to generate a three-tiered permutated index keyed to, and presented with the 600 articles bibliography in Volume 2; the three levels of the index are name of chemical, name of microbe affecting or affected by said chemical, and treatment process involved. These same 600 articles were used to generate separate biodegradable and nonbiodegradable lists of chemicals, on which a successful feasiblity study was carried out to create an algorithm to predict biodegradability using only substructural fragments and molecular weight. The results of this study, in Volume 1, indicated 93% accuracy for biodegradables, but only 70% for nonbiodegradables due to the inadequate selection available. Also in Volume 1 is a report on technological advances in wastewater treatment gleaned from the 1,000 documents. In the same selection, in tabular format, are references to commercial literature and some journal articles, supplied with this report to EPA, obtained by canvassing Japanese and West German manufacturers in this field. Rounding out Volume 1 is a condensation of abstracts from the 1913-1974 literature dealing only with adverse effects of chemicals on wastewater treatment, also in tabular format; it is intended to complement references to this topic in the permutated index.

Prepared for Municipal Environmental Research Lab., Cincinnati, OH. "EPA/600-2-81-175, Volume 1." "EPA/600-2-81-176, Volume 2." "September 1981." EPA grant no. R806699-01. Includes bibliographical references.

v. 1. Biodegradability prediction, advances in and chemical interferences with wastewater treatment -- v. 2. Permutated index of chemicals, microbial populations, and wastewater treatment systems with bibliography.