For regeneration of nitrate-loaded anion-exchange resins large quantities of salt are needed while the voluminous concentrated brine, produced during regeneration, is difficult to dispose of. These problems can be avoided by using denitrifying bacteria in the regeneration process of the resins. Experiments showed that resins could be regenerated by a denitrifying sludge suspension containing 7 g dm-3 NaCl. However, the process proceeded slowly compared with conventional regeneration.