Strict discharge limits established to protect Taiwan's surface waters have led Prime Asia Taiwan (PAT), a leather finishing facility located in Chang Hua Hsien, Taiwan, to study the use of tertiary treatment technologies at its wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The current Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) discharge limit of 100 mg/L for tannery wastes has been unattainable through PAT's conventional biological treatment system. Two advanced technologies were chosen for pilot testing to determine their effectiveness in meeting the 100 mg/L COD discharge limit that include: a biological activated carbon (BAC) process; and, a membrane bioreactor (MBR) process. Two pilot tests were independently undertaken to verify whether the COD discharge goal could be met with the BAC or the MBR processes and to determine the design parameters for full-scale systems. Includes tables, figures.