Increased interest in sustainable agriculture and bio-based industries requires that we find more energy-efficient methods for treating cellulose-containing wastewaters. We examined the effectiveness of simultaneous electricity production and treatment of a paper recycling plant wastewater using microbial fuel cells. Treatment efficiency was limited by wastewater conductivity. When a 50 mM phosphate buffer solution (PBS, 5.9 mS/cm) was added to the wastewater, power densities reached 501+/-20 mW/m(2), with a coulombic efficiency of 16+/-2%. There was efficient removal of soluble organic matter, with 73+/-1% removed based on soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) and only slightly greater total removal (76+/-4%) based on total COD (TCOD) over a 500-h batch cycle. Cellulose was nearly completely removed (96+/-1%) during treatment. Further increasing the conductivity (100 mM PBS) increased power to 672+/-27 mW/m(2). In contrast, only 144+/-7 mW/m(2) was produced using an unamended wastewater (0.8 mS/cm) with TCOD, SCOD, and cellulose removals of 29+/-1%, 51+/-2%, and 16+/-1% (350-h batch cycle). These results demonstrate limitations to treatment efficiencies with actual wastewaters caused by solution conductivity compared to laboratory experiments under more optimal conditions.