We studied the pretreatment of concentrated wastewater from triazine manufacturing by coagulation, electrolysis, and internal microelectrolysis. Results show that coagulation by polyaluminum chloride at dosage of 0.5 g/L could remove up to 17.2% chemical oxygen demand (COD) from the wastewater. Electrolysis using iron electrode achieved 33.2% COD removal at current of 2 A in 180 min, which was attributed to coagulation and oxidation of the organic contaminants in the wastewater by the radicals (OH circle and O-circle) and oxidants (O-2, O-3, and H-2 O-2) produced in electrochemical reactions. Internal microelectrolysis using iron chips and granular activated carbon (GAC) showed that up to 60.5% COD could be removed under the conditions of iron/GAC/wastewater volumetric ratio of 3:2:490, sparge ratio (ratio of air flow rate to volume of wastewater) of 2:490 min(-1), and reaction time of 132 h. COD reduction in internal microelectrolysis was attributed to a combination of chemical and physical processes, mainly oxidation by radicals and oxidants formed in electrochemical reactions, adsorption on, co-precipitation with, and enmeshment in ferrous and ferric hydroxides resulted from Fe2+ released during anode oxidation. The results suggest that internal microelectrolysis using iron chips and GAC is a promising, low-cost alternative for pretreating concentrated wastewater from pesticide manufacturing. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.