Blast furnace dust clay sodium silicate ceramic particles (BCSCP) and commercial ceramic particles (CCP) were applied to treat brewery wastewater in two lab-scale up-flow biological aerated filters (BAF) to compare their abilities to act as biofilm supports. The optimal preparation conditions of BCSCP were obtained through orthogonal tests. The influence of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and air-liquid ratio (A/L) on the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) were investigated. Under the selected operating parameters, the average removal efficiencies of COD and NH3-N in the BCSCP reactor had slightly better performance compared with the CCP reactor throughout the filter media. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis indicated that BCSCP had higher porosity and larger total surface area in comparison to the CCP, and the microorganisms on BCSCP were more abundant than those on CCP. Therefore, BCSCP is a potential material for use as the filter media of BAF for wastewater treatment. BCSCP application, as a novel process of treating wastes with waste, provides a promising way to use blast furnace dust (BFD). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.