Novel media-ultra-lightweight sludge ceramics (ULSC) employed in an upflow lab-scale biological aerobic filter (BAF) were investigated for pharmaceutical advanced wastewater treatment. The influences of the volume ratio of pharmaceutical wastewater to domestic wastewater (PW/DW), hydraulic retention time (HRT) and air-liquid ratio (A/L) on chemical oxygen demand (CODCr) and ammonium (NH(4)(+)-N) of the effluent were investigated. When PW/DW of 4:1, HRT of 6 h, and A/L of 5:1 were applied, the mean effluent concentration of NH(4)(+)-N was 6.2 mg L(-1), and the maximum CODCr concentration in the effluent was 96 mg L(-1). Both NH(4)(+)-N and CODCr did not exceed the limits of the national discharge standards (NH(4)(+)-N <= 15 mg L(-1), CODCr <= 100 mg L(-1)). In addition, the BAF system showed a strong capacity of further removal from NH(4)(+)-N of the effluent. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.