This work was conducted to study the ability of permanganate (KMnO4) oxidative treatment as a method to decolourise the solutions containing azo dye C.I. Acid Orange 7, C.I. Acid Orange 8, C.I. Acid Red 14, or C.I. Acid Red 73, in a batch system. The results of the study demonstrated the complete removal of the colour and partial mineralization for each dye solution. The effect of the key operating variables such as initial dye concentration, permanganate amount, pH and temperature were studied. Decolourisation reactions were influenced by the acidity and temperature of the treated solutions. To avoid the overdose of KMnO4, the stoichiometric amount of permanganate required for 1 mol of dye complete colour removal was determined. The reactions between permanganate and C.I. Acid Orange 7, C.I. Acid Orange 8, C.I. Acid Red 14 and C.I. Acid Red 73 dyes in acidic medium exhibit (2.05, 2.20, 2.42 and 2.79):1 stoichiometry (MnO4-:dye). Dye degradation efficiency by potassium permanganate was studied, monitoring total organic carbon (TOC). The results indicated that the degradation efficiency of azo dyes increased with the increase of the potassium permanganate amount. Meanwhile, even in large excess of the oxidant, the dye mineralization was incomplete. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.