The fixed bed reactor was combined with a solar photoreactor and UV lamp reactor. This hybrid photoreactor used a heterogeneous photocatalysis process (TiO2/UV) as a tertiary treatment for the degradation of tartrazine dye in water. The solar reactor removed almost all organic compounds from the wastewater. Photocatalysis was optimized using a parametric study to improve the influence of different parameters on the degradation efficiency. Color removals when using solar, UV lamp and hybrid reactors present 99%, 30%, and 99%, respectively. Tartrazine removal kinetics followed a pseudo-first order model. The hybrid solar and UV lamp system combination was a feasibility choice for removing both dyes from wastewater. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.