A systems methodology for defining and evaluating alternatives for managing urban water quality is proposed. This study focuses on the planning and operation of urban wastewater control systems. The metropolitan economic-engineering urban water quality system is defined and an approach is adopted for analyzing the complex interactions among the physical, technological, social and economic aspects of the urban water management problem. Linear programming is utilized to define the minimum required investment in the wastewater control system. To account for risk, a chance constrained formulation is provided. Dynamic programming is used to obtain the optimal operating policy under deterministic and stochastic conditions. A water quality index was used to obtain this policy. (Modified author abstract)