The emission of hydrogen sulfide into the atmosphere of sewer systems induces the biological production of sulfuric acid, causing severe concrete corrosion. As a possible preventive solution, a microbial consortium of nitrate-reducing, sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (NR-SOB) was enriched in a continuously stirred tank reactor in order to develop a biological technique for the removal of dissolved sulfide. The consortium, dominated by Arcobacter sp., was capable of removing 99% of sulfide. Stable isotope fractioning of the sulfide indicated that the oxidation was a biological process. The capacity of the NR-SOB consortium for rapid removal of sulfide was demonstrated by using it as an inoculum in synthetic and real sewage. Removal rates up to 52 mg sulfide-S g VSS(-1) h(-1) were achieved, to our knowledge the highest removal rate reported so far for freshwater species in the absence of molecular oxygen. Further long-term incubation experiments revealed the capacity of the bacteria to oxidize sulfide without the presence of nitrate, suggesting that an oxidized redox reserve is present in the culture.