for allowing me to take their valuable time. I must thank Dr. Ahmet YUCEER from Cukurova University, Turkey, who has always encouraged me to have a graduate degree in the U.S. Dr. Ertan ARSLANKAYA also deserves thanks for his critique of my work during the experimental stage as well as sharing his expertise in statistical analysis and kinetic modeling. Patrick Brown is also appreciated for his help in laboratory work. Finally, I would like to thank the Higher Education Council of Turkey for making available the Future Faculty Fellowship and Scholarship fund that financed my work at Iowa State University and partial financial support by ISU-IPRT and Fox Engineering and Associates for the full-scale sequencing batch reactor study.