A novel anaerobic/aerobic/anoxic (AOA) process is proposed to realize denitrifying phosphorous removal in this study, and the characteristic of the AOA process is transferring part of the anaerobic mixed liquor to the post-anoxic zone for providing the carbon source needed for denitrification. The AOA process was operated for 3 months, and the average removal efficiencies of NH(4)(+)-TN and PO(4)(3-)-P were 93.0 +/- 3.1%, 70.3 +/- 2.9% and 87.3 +/- 11.8%, respectively. A mass balance analysis indicated that 0.49 +/- 0.02 g VSS(-1) d(-1) of PO(4)(3-)-P and 0.23 +/- 0.04 g VSS(-1) d(-1) of NO(3)(-)-N were simultaneously removed in the anoxic zone, and it is speculated that denitrifying phosphorous removal occurred in the AOA process. Furthermore, 0.24 +/- 0.06 g VSS(-1) d(-1) of TN was removed in the aerobic zone via simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND). The results demonstrate that the multi-zone structure of the AOA process favors the enhancement of denitrifying phosphorous removal and SND for municipal wastewater treatment. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.