In the present study, catalytic thermal treatment (thermolysis) was investigated for the reduction of COD and color of the desizing wastewater under moderate temperature and atmospheric pressure conditions using various catalysts. The experimental runs were performed in a glass reactor equipped with a vertical condenser. The homogeneous copper sulfate catalyst was found to be the most active in comparison to other catalysts under similar operating conditions. A removal of about 71.6% chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 87.2% color of desizing wastewater was obtained with a catalyst concentration of 4 kg/m(3) at pH 4. The initial pH value of the wastewater showed a pronounced effect on the precipitation process. During the thermolysis, copper gets leached to the aqueous phase, the residue obtained after the treatment is rich in copper and it can be blended with organic manure for use in agricultural fields. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the thermal oxidation of the solid residue obtained after thermolysis gets oxidized at a higher temperature range than that of the residue obtained from the desizing wastewater. The results lead to the conclusion that thermochemical precipitation is a very fast (instantaneous) process and would need a very small reactor vessel in comparison to other processes. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.