The degradation of azo dyes in an aerobic biofilter operated in an SBR system was studied. The azo dyes studied were Acid Red 151 and a textile effluent containing basic dyes (Basic Blue 41, Basic Red 46 and 16 and Basic Yellow 28 and 19). In the case of Acid Red 151 a maximal substrate degradation rate of 288 mg AR 151/lliquid·d was obtained and degradation efficiencies were between 60 and 99%. Mineralization studies showed that 73% (as carbon) of the initial azo dye was transformed to CO2 by the consortia. The textile effluent was efficiently biodegraded by the reactor. A maximal removal rate of 2.3 kg COD/lliquid·d was obtained with removal efficiencies (as COD) varying from 76 to 97%. In all the cycles the system presented 80% of colour removal.
