The utilization of wood-shaving bottom ash (WBA) for the removal of Red Reactive 141 (RR141), an azo reactive dye, was investigated. WBA/H(2)O and WBA/H(2)SO(4) were made by treating WBA with water and 0.1M H(2)SO(4), respectively, to increase adsorption capacity. Adsorption of RR141 from reactive dye solution (RDS) and reactive dye wastewater (RDW) by WBA/H(2)O and WBA/H(2)SO(4) involved the BET surface area and pore size diameter. Properties of adsorbents, effect of contact time, initial pH of solution, dissolved metals and elution studies indicated that the decolorisation mechanism involved both chemical adsorption and precipitation with calcium ions. In addition, the WBA/H(2)SO(4) surface might contain sulphate-cation complexes that were specific to enhancing dye adsorption from RDW. The adsorption isotherm had a best fit by the Freundlich model. Freundlich parameters showed that WBA/H(2)O used more heterogeneous surface than WBA/H(2)SO(4) and activated carbon for RDW adsorption. A thermodynamic study indicated that RDW adsorption was an endothermic process. The maximum dye adsorption capacities of WBA/H(2)O, WBA/H(2)SO(4) and activated carbon obtained from a Langmuir model at 30 degrees C were 24.3, 29.9, and 41.5mgl(-1), respectively. In addition, WBA/H(2)O and WBA/H(2)SO(4) could reduce colour and high chemical oxygen demand (COD) of real textile wastewater. According to the difficulty in the elution study, it was an environmentally safe disposal of this waste. Therefore, WBA, a waste from combustion of wood shavings, was suitable to be used as an effective adsorbent for azo reactive dye removal.