The present work represents a comparative study for removing acid green dye 50 by anodic oxidation and electrocoagulation using a new batch self gas stirred electrochemical cell. The effect of operating parameters such as current density, initial dye concentration, NaCl concentration and pH on the efficiency of colour removal has been examined. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction under suitable operating conditions was also calculated and found to be reduced by 68% and 87% in case of electrochemical oxidation and electrocoagulation methods, respectively. The results indicate that electrocoagulation is more economic than anodic oxidation, energy consumption ranged from 2.8 to 12.8 kWh/kg dye removed in case of electrocoagulation while in case of anodic oxidation it ranged from 3.31 to 16.97 kWh/kg dye removed. Although the mechanisms of electrocoagulation and anodic oxidation are different, results show that the first-order rate equation provides the best correlation for the decolourization rate of acid green 50 by the two methods. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.