The high concentration of salt in textile dye wastewater is one of the limiting factors for evaluating an effective biodecolorization system. Thirty-nine strains of salt-tolerant bacteria were screened for their ability to decolorize azo dyes (cationic blue 41) in the presence of 10% NaCl (w/v). Among them, C15-3 was the most effective strain for decolorizing synthetic dye wastewater. Due to the advantages in the use of immobilized cells over other textile wastewater treatments, the entrapment procedure was selected as it generated preferable conditions for dye decolorization. The ratio suitable for the whole cell entrapment technique was 1% (w/v) alginate and 2.5% (w/v) gelatin. In decolorization batching, the immobilized cells were advantaged over free cells for dye removal over a range of pH and temperatures. Synthetic dye wastewater was decolorized by the immobilized cells in the pH 4.0-10.0 range (pH 4.0-8.0 for whole cell system). The immobilized beads were more effective in the removal of synthetic dye at 50°C (optimal temperature) when compared to free cells (optimally at 40°C). Tests revealed that the decolorization products were less phytotoxic when compared to undecolorized azo dye. Immobilized cells were reusable in 4 cycles at pH 7.2 and 37°C, indicating that the addition of immobilized halotolerant cells may be a suitable treatment for industrial effluents in the breakdown of azo dyes.