BACKGROUND: Most of the researches on the dye removal using ozonation have been focused on the removal efficiency. However, the research on their removal characteristics and mechanism according to the reaction time has been still insufficient. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, the effects of initial pH and dye concentration with reaction time on the degradation characteristics of methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) by ozonation were evaluated. The degradation efficiency of MB by ozonation increased with increasing pH. On the other hand, the degradation efficiency of MO by ozonation did not show a significant difference with varing pH. The both MO and MB by ozonation were decomposed within 30 min irrespective of the dye concentration, but the decomposition rates of dyes were faster at lower initial dye concentration. The decomposition efficiency of total organic carbon (TOC) in each dye solution by ozonation was low, which was found to be effective for partial decomposition such as decolorization rather than complete degradation of the dye. CONCLUSION: Overall, ozonation was an effective method for removing nondegradable dyes. However, it is necessary to study the optimization of dye degradation under various environmental conditions for ozonation.