In order to treat wastewater rich in sulfate and organic carbon, an anaerobic attached-growth bioreactor was set up. It was the pretreatment of mixotrophic desulfurization-denitrification process and the effect of influent HRT was considered. The HRT was decreased from 128 to 6.2 h, while the sulfate removal rate, the organic carbon removal rate and sulfide generating rate were analyzed, respectively. The results showed that the suitable HRT in sulfate reduction stage for the pretreatment of desulfurization-denitrification process was 7.7 to 10.2 h.