The present study was conducted to investigate sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) activity and copper removal utilizing SRB enhanced by zero valent iron (Fe-0) with MgSO4 center dot 7H(2)O and Na2SO4 as sulfate source and sodium lactate as energy resource in three distinct systems: SRB system. Fe-0 system and SRB + Fe-0 system. The SRB activity and copper removal were tested in synthetic wastewater containing 1250 mg L-1 sulfate, 600 mg L-1 chemical oxygen demand (COD), copper (0.5. 10. 15, 20, and 25 mg L-1) and pH 6.0. Sulfate reductions in the SRB system and SRB + Fe-0 system were effective below 20 and 25 mg L-1 of initial copper concentration, respectively. Copper concentrations higher than 20 mg L-1 and 25 mg VI were lethal to SRB in the SRB system and SRB + Fe-0 system, respectively. The sulfate reduction rates in the SRB + Fe-0 system were increased by 559% relative to SRB system with the copper concentrations of 15 mg L-1. The results of sulfate reduction show that the addition of Fe-0 enhanced the activity of SRB. In the copper removal experiment, the overall copper removal was around 99.5% after 40 h in all three systems, whereas the SRB + Fe-0 system exhibited a better performance of copper removal than the other systems with a reaction time of 120 min. EDS (energy-dispersive spectroscopy) analysis showed that the precipitation of copper occurred in form of sulfide. The results of SRB activity and copper removal experiments demonstrated that the SRB + Fe-0 system was more capable to treat acid copper wastewater than the SRB and Fe-0 systems. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.