A fibrous-bed bioreactor with immobilized cells of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas fluorescens was used to treat groundwater contaminated with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (collectively know as BTEX). The kinetics of BTEX biodegradation in the fibrous-bed bioreactor operated under continuous well-mixed conditions was studied at room temperature. Aeration was not used in the process fed with groundwater samples with an average total BTEX concentration of 2.75 mg dm. All BTEX compounds present in the groundwater feed were concurrently and completely biodegraded even under oxygen-limited or hypoxic conditions. Nearly 100% removal efficiency was obtained when the retention time was greater than 1 h. BTEX removal efficiency decreased with decreasing the retention time, with p- and o-xylenes showed up first in the treated groundwater, followed by benzene and then other BTEX compounds. Biodegradation rates of BTEX generally increased with increasing BTEX concentration and loading rate. The maximum BTEX biodegradation rate was 5.76 mg h dm at the loading rate of 6.54 mg dm h. The bioreactor had a stable performance, maintaining its ability for efficient BTEX degradation without requiring additional nutrients for more than 1 month. The good performance of the fibrous-bed bioreactor was attributed to the high cell density (∼ 15 g dm reactor volume) in the fibrous matrix. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry.