The biodegradation of synthetically-prepared phenol wastewater was studied in a single stage, bench-scale rotating biological contactor (RBC). The effect of process variables, namely rotational speed (40-175 rpm), input phenol loading (1754-3508mg phenol m(-2)h(-1)), input hydraulic loading (8.77-23.42 dm(3)m(-2)h(-1)), and temperature of wastewater (20-30degreesC) on the amount of phenol removed in the system was investigated. It was observed that an increase in the speed of rotation significantly improved the performance. An increase in the hydraulic loading rates caused a reduction in the phenol removal rate, while an increase in the organic loading rate resulted in an improvement in performance. An increase in temperature caused an increase in the microbial activity and therefore gave better performance. A mathematical model has been developed based on oxygen transfer and kinetics of biodegradation.