An approach is described for assessing the economic feasibility of treating concentrated waste streams for removal of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (CNP) constituents. Candidate process train alternatives (using conventional wastewater treatment processes) were formulated on the basis of laboratory evaluations to assess the feasibility of these processes for separation and/or conversion of CNP constituent from concentrated waste streams. A treatment system simulation model is described which is capable of tracking material (CNP) flows through the candidate process trains, predicting the removal of CNP materials in each process on the basis of relationships formulated from the laboratory studies, computing costs for each feasible process train in the candidate trains for the specific input concentrated waste stream flow rate and quality, and selecting the least cost alternative for treatment of the stream to specified quality levels.