ABSTRACTThe sewage from the Greater Athens area is discharged without treatment to the nearby Saronicos Gulf. Recently the Greek government decided to implement an appropriate treatment and disposal scheme, on the basis of a study of the hydrodynamic behaviour of the Gulf and the fate of the discharged pollutants. The study was conducted with the aid of suitable hydrodynamic and water quality models for a number of alternative treatment schemes, ranging from primary treatment to biological treatment with seasonal nitrogen removal, combined with outfalls of different lengths. The results indicate that, although none of the examined schemes will lead to an immediate substantial impact, the scheme that includes biological treatment with seasonal nitrogen removal can eliminate the danger of serious ecological disturbances at a reasonable cost.