A simple and rapid on-line spectrophotometric method for the determination of bromate is proposed. The method is based on the reaction of bromate and 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-bromo-PADAP) with SCN(-), a red complex is formed and monitored at 550nm. The linear range found is between 0.18 and 3.00mgl(-1) with a detection limit of 0.15mgl(-1). The sampling rate was calculated to be 45 samples per hour. The proposed method has a precision of less than 0.8%.