Abstract During the investigation of problems with the physical handling of sludge from a saline activated sludge wastewater system, pyrolysis/GC/MS was used in an attempt to determine whether changes in the bacterial population in the sludge were occurring. The pyrolysis GC/MS analysis revealed an unknown peak among other typical bacterial pyrolysis products. This unknown was identified as 2-methylpyrimidine. This pyrolysis product was only found in appreciable amounts in samples from other saline systems but not in freshwater systems analyzed as points of comparison for the system of concern. Further investigation confirmed the source of 2-methylpyrimidine to be ectoine, a compound produced by halophilic bacteria as a compatible solute for osmoadaptation. Pyrolysis GC/MS was shown to be a useful tool to indicate the presence of ectoine in halophilic bacteria.