Cetrizine is a very stable antihistamine drug widely used for treating allergic problems. The present study involves treatment of simulated cetirizine wastewater by electro-oxidation (EO) and electro-fenton (EF) processes using RuO2 coated Ti electrodes (Ti/RuO2). The experiments were designed using Box Behnken Design (BBD) under response surface methodology (RSM). The effect of pH, current, dose of fenton reagent and electrolysis time was determined on the degradation efficiencies and specific energy consumption of treatment processes. The degradation efficiency of EO treatment for simulated cetirizine wastewater was obtained 57.61% at optimum operational parameters pH 7, current 0.54 A and electrolysis time of 89 min. The specific energy consumption of 3.20 kWh/m(3) was evaluated in EO process at optimized conditions. Whereas, in case of EF treatment 78.37% degradation was obtained at optimum conditions (elapsed time = 52.86 min, dose of Fe2+ = 1 mmol at constant supply of 0.84 A current) of EF treatment process. The specific energy consumption of 3.71 kWh/m(3) was evaluated in EF process at optimized conditions. Current and time were observed as highly significant operational parameters for the EO treatment whereas current, time and fenton reagent concentration were strongly affecting the degradation using EF treatment of simulated cetirizine. (C) 2018 The Electrochemical Society.