This work aims to evaluate the efficiency of ammonium removal from piggery wastewater by an intermittent aeration (IA) sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with immobilized NH4(+)-reducing bacteria under mesophilic conditions. When a 20-L bench-scale SBR with 11% (v/v) of alginate beads containing NH4(+)-reducing bacteria was used, removal efficiency of NH4(+) was 63% after 240 h. When a full-scale SBR system (available volume = 83 m(3)) with 0.1% (v/v) of alginate-coated light-expanded clay aggregates beads containing NH4(+)-reducing bacteria was used, removal efficiency of NH4(+) by the full-scale intermittent aeration SBR (IA-SBR) was significantly different from both traditional intermittent aeration SBR (T-SBR) and the continuous aeration SBR with AL beads containing NH4(+)-reducing bacteria (P < 0.05). In summary, the IA-SBR with AL beads can significantly promote removal efficiency of NH4(+) on farm.