A laboratory evaluation has been made of water-soluble biocides which might be effective in controlling microbial contamination in water-compensated fuel storage tanks on naval ships. Higher concentrations of biocides were generally required for control of sulfate-reducing bacteria in steel drums simulating ships' tanks than in test-tube scale assays. At least tenfold higher concentrations were necessary when biocide additions were made after, rather than before, bacterial growth had developed extensively. A mercaptopyridine biocide was effective at the lowest concentration followed by methylene bisthiocyanate and a triazine derivative; an organoboron compound was comparatively ineffective. Attention has also been given to the possible environmental impact of discharging biocide-treated water. An algal assay has been used to study the loss in toxicity of candidate biocides in seawater solution on exposure to sunlight. The mercaptopyridine biocide was particularly susceptible to photodegradation. Thus it may be possible to control microbial contamination indefinitely in a dark fuel tank with a biocide which photodegrades to nontoxic products when discharged into sunlit surface waters.