Selected water quality parameters-pH, dissolved organic carbon, turbidity (NTU), and temperature-were tested for their potential effects on ozone and monochloramine inactivation of Bacillus subtilis spores. In oxidant demand-free phosphate-buffer, temperature had the strongest influence on inactivation kinetics when using ozone, pH had a smaller but significant impact on B. subtilis spore inactivation with both monochloramine and ozone. Where monochloramine was applied, modeling and experimental measurements confirmed that dichloramine levels were too low to produce significant inactivation effects under these experimental conditions. It was demonstrated that oxidant demand-free phosphate buffer may not be an adequate environmental analogue for inactivation responses in natural waters. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.