Waters and wastewater polluted with detergents are of difficult treatment. In spite of that contaminant being biodegradable, times of reaction of several hours of treatment would be necessary for bio or chemical degradation. Such long times are not usually available in the water treatment plants, that in general operate with residence times of about 2 h. In that context, interest exists in studying processes for degradation of surfactants from waters and effluents that can be fast and have low cost. Among the possible processes that can offer those features are the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). The present study had the objective, to evaluate an AOP driven by the combination of the hydrogen peroxide [H(2)O(2)] with hypochlorite (NaClO) as generating system of oxygen singlet (1O2), for the degradation of surfactants in waters and wastewaters. The effects of the possible operational variables investigated were: initial concentration of surfactant; pH; dose of H(2)O(2) and dose of NaClO, at room temperature. The combined system hydrogen peroxide + sodium hypochlorite generating oxygen singlet, was effective in the degradation of sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) in water, allowing in conditions of [SLS]i: 5 or 10 mg/L, pH = 6 to 8; and molar ratio [H(2)O(2)] + [NaClO]) : [SLS] = 2,5:1, the achievement of a final concentration of [SLS] < 0,5 mg/L a t = 60 minutes – in batch reaction.