In the present paper the reactor design for the treatment of waste water containing organic chloroderivatives (2-chloroethanol, 2-chloroethoxy-ethanol and bis-(2-chloroethyl) formal) is presented. The main constrain of the reactor design is the achievement of organic chlorine concentration under the ecological limit of 10ppm. As an optimal solution, a reactive distillation column in which R-C1 bonds are hydrolyzed in a solution of NaOH with possible recovery of ethylene oxide has been proposed. Using a simple equilibrium mathematical model of reactive distillation, an industrial column was designed. The industrial realization is presented and its results are compared with the theoretical prediction. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.