A taxonomic study was carried out on strain GCS-AN-3(T), which was isolated from a phenol-degrading consortium enriched from coking wastewater activated sludge of Beijing Shougang Company Limited during the screening of phenol-degrading bacteria. Cells of strain GCS-AN-3(T) were Gram-stain-negative, short rods, and oxidase-/catalase-positive. Growth was observed at salinities from 0 to 2.5 % and at temperatures from 10 to 37 °C. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain GCS-AN-3(T) was most closely related to Ottowia pentelensis DSM 21699(T) (96.2 %). The principal fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c/C16 : 1ω6c), C16 : 0, summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c/C18 : 1ω6c) and cyclo C17 : 0. The major respiratory quinone was Q-8. The polar lipids comprised phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and an unknown phospholipid. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 67.6 mol%. Thiosulfate could be utilized as co-substrate for aerobic growth and was oxidized to sulfate. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular data, strain GCS-AN-3(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Ottowia, for which the name Ottowia beijingensis sp. nov. is proposed (type strain GCS-AN-3(T) = LMG 27179(T) = CGMCC 1.12324(T) = MCCC 1A01410(T)). An emended description of the genus Ottowia is also proposed.