Textile effluents are of large-scale environmental concern because they colour and diminish the quality of water bodies into which they are released. The ability of microorganisms to degrade a wide variety of compounds in the effluents has been recognized and exploited in various biotreatment processes. In this study, the effectiveness of cyanobacterial treatment system for bioremediation of textile effluents was investigated. In the biotreatment system, Oscillatoria was employed for the bioremediation of textile effluents. The percent removal of colour, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the effluents were studied. Other analyses involved the physiochemical and elemental studies of the effluents. The results revealed that there was a 30.4%, 57.6% and 39.82% decrease in BOD, COD and colouration of the textile effluents after 4 weeks of treatment with Oscillatoria. © EM International.