A new method is presented for wastewater treatment, which allows estn. of the facility of the electrochem. oxidn. of org. species using the Electrochem. Oxidizability Index (EOI) and the degree of oxidn. using the Electrochem. Oxygen Demand (EOD). At Pt anodes and in alk. medium only benzene derivs. with electron donating substituent (-NH2) are efficiently oxidized giving maleic acid as the final product. [on SciFinder (R)]