A dielectric barrier discharge reactor was designed and tested for the degradation of a model aqueous pollutant crystal violet (CV). The specific advantage of the present configuration is the effective utilization of reactive species generated in the discharge plasma. The reactive species formed in the discharge, particularly the OH - radicals, may cause strong oxidizing effects in the degradation of CV. Mineralization of the dye was confirmed by TOC analyzer and infrared gas analyzer. It was observed that both degradation efficiency and TOC removal increased with increasing the input energy; however, the energy yield decreased. The highest energy yield achieved was 86.3 (g/kWh). Formation of hydrogen peroxide was quantified and addition of Fe 2+ increased the performance of the reactor. The dye degradation followed first-order kinetics. © 2012 American Chemical Society.