This study determines the effectiveness of pulsed streamer discharges (PSD), a type of advanced oxidation technology (AOT) to clean water contaminated with chemical agents. For the purpose of this study, experiments were conducted with G and H agent simulants to determine the degradation kinetics and to determine the effects of various electrical and chemical parameters in the degradation of these contaminants. The energy efficiency of contaminant degradation shows that pulsed streamer discharges can be an efficient technology in treating water contaminated with chemical agents. The maximum energy yields of degradation of H and G agent simulants by the pulsed corona discharges are 0.029 and 0.008 molecules/100 eV, respectively, in the series configuration with ferrous sulfate salt in solution. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.