Swine wastewater was successfully treated by the SGBR. Two types of swine wastewater samples were used, and the performance of the SGBR was excellent. COD removal efficiency of sample 1 was 84.7∼94.5%, while that of sample 2 was 58.4∼76.6%. The SGBR acted not only as a bioreactor but also as a filter system. The performance of suspended solids removal was excellent irrespective of the OLR. Additionally, the COD removal efficiency in the effluent after backwashing was not a function of the recovery time but that of the OLR.;The SGBR model was developed with concepts of advection, diffusion/dispersion, and decay of microorganisms. The simulated COD correlated well with the experimental COD except at low concentrations.;The SGBR behaved as a pseudo-plug flow reactor within the top 20% of reactor height so that most of the COD and VFA were completely removed. In addition, a large amount of granules in the lower part of the SGBR was used to polish organic matter and solids.