The new attached growth sponge tray bioreactor (STB) was evaluated at different operating conditions for removing organics and nutrients from primary treated sewage effluent. This STB was also assessed when using as a pre-treatment prior to micro-filtration (MF) for reducing membrane fouling. At a short hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 40 min, the STB could remove up to 92% of DOC and 40-56% of T-N and T-P at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.4 kg COD/m(3) sponge day. This OLR is the best for the STB as compared to the OLRs of 0.6, 1.2 and 3.6 kg COD/m(3) sponge day. At 28 mL/min of flow velocity (FV), SIB achieved the highest efficiencies with 92% of DOC, 87.4% of T-P, and 54.8% of T-N removal. Finally, at the optimal OLR and FV, the STB could remove almost 90% of organic and nutrient, significantly reduce membrane fouling with HRT of only 120 min. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.