The reduction and degradation of total organic carbon (TOC) and bacteria from a secondary effluent of synthetic slaughterhouse wastewater using vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) and ultraviolet-C (UV-C) processes and their combination (UV-CNUV and VUV/UV-C) were investigated. The TOC removal rates under continuous mode operation ranged from 5.5 to 6.2%. In addition, the treatment with the UV-C/H2O2 and VUV/H2O2 processes under continuous mode operation doubled the TOC removal rates 10.8 and 12.2%, respectively. The optimum molar ratio of H2O2/TOC was found to be 2.5 and 1.5 for the UV-C and VUV processes, respectively. It was observed that all photochemical processes were able to totally inactivate different strains of bacteria with concentrations up to 10(5) CFU/mL within 27.6s. Finally, a kinetic model was developed to simulate the TOC degradation from a secondary effluent of synthetic slaughterhouse wastewater. (C) 2011 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.