The activated sludge which has been propagated by elimination of the BOD of the raw water in this way is degraded to carbon dioxide gas and water by circulation through the sludge anaerobic tank 40, the ozone-oxidation tank 48 and the biological phosphorus-removing activated sludge treatment process 32, and so it should be discharged out of the system and the amount of excess sludge is more or less zero.
Moreover, soluble organic matter (BOD) is included in abundance in the ozone-oxidized sludge 49 as a result of the oxidative degradation of the activated sludge with ozone and so, if this is added to the anaerobic tank 33, the phosphorus release from the phosphorus-removing bacteria can be made to occur actively. Furthermore, if the sludge is left to stand anaerobically beforehand in the sludge anaerobic tank 40, the solubilization rate of the sludge is improved in the ozone-oxidation of sludge in the ozone-oxidizing tank 48.