Phytoplankton over-blooming and consequent die-off is one of the major contributory factors for ammonia and chemical oxygen demand (COD) loadings. In this work, electrolysis technology was applied to determine its ability to remove ammonia and total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) in both laboratory-scale batch and continuous systems. Under an initially set voltage of 5 V, a constant current of 0.1 A was applied and different retention times were used for ammonia-removal experiments. Results showed that these conditions are not satisfactory in removing TCOD loadings contributed by algal cells. However, a retention time of 35.7 min was sufficient to remove 100% ammonia from algal-uncontaminated waters. Ammonia removals in waters containing Chlorella spp and Isochrysis spp were 87 and 68%, respectively, after 140 min of electrolysis. Energy consumption for ammonia removal in algal-free water was 50 W mg(-1) of ammonia. For waters containing Chlorella spp and Isochrysis spp energy consumptions were 67 and 85 W mg(-1) of ammonia, respectively. Interestingly, the applied mild electrolysis condition was just sufficient to control excess algal blooming and ammonia without increasing the dissolved COD and chlorine in shrimp grow-out ponds. This minimizes operating costs due the process requiring less energy. Furthermore, it was also found that electrolysis does not lower alkalinity. (c) 2005 Society of Chemical Industry.