A 7.5 mgd advanced wastewater treatment plant at South Lake Tahoe, California has been in uninterrupted operation for three years. Chemical treatment, mixed media filtration, and granular carbon adsorption have been shown to be efficient, reliable, and economical processes for wastewater treatment. A degree of reliability and flexibility comparable to that achieved in electric power generation and water purification has been achieved by appropriate selection and sequencing of unit processes and proper plant design. Plant bypasses have been elimated. Bacteria and viruses have been entirely eliminated from the effluent by small chlorine dosages. Lime has been recalcined in a multiple hearth furnace without air pollution, and granular activated carbon has been successfully regenerated and reused, with stack gasses scrubbed to meet air pollution standards. The wastewater treatment cost has been approximately twice the cost of conventional wastewater treatment.