Due to increasing water demand, water reuse and soil-aquifer treatment (SAT)of municipal wastewater effluent is becoming more common as a conservation technique in arid and/or high water use regions throughout the world. Aerobic and newly developed anoxic biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (DOC) tests, used individually or combined with size exclusion chromatography with online total organic carbon (TOC) detection, provide an effective means to monitor changes that occur in effluent organic matter (EfOM) during SAT. Through these techniques, EfOM persistence and biodegradation in the subsurface, as well as the fate of soluble microbial products (SMPs) within the SAT system can be monitored. The SMPs originate from the secondary wastewater treatment as well as possibly during subsequent SAT treatment. Includes 6 references, tables, figures.