This study focuses on the decoloration of organic dye, Acid Red, (AR) by photodegradation manner from the aquatic environment using a synthetic photocatalyst, Ag+ doped hydrothermally synthesized hydrogen titanate nanotube (Ag+ HTNT). The process of photodegradation enhances under UV-light (18 W, 254 nm) at 25 ± 2 °C, 6.8 ± 0.2 pH, taking the dye solution in a beaker and agitating it at a speed of 520–540 rpm using a magnetic stirrer in the presence of adequate amount of oxygen. Repeated three average results of experiments with an initial dye concentration of 10 mg/L, in the optimum conditions suggested that ~ 95% dye was removed from the aqueous media after an optimum contact time of 6 h with a dose of 2 g/L. The degradation followed first-order reaction model best than other three models. The photocatalysis study was explained best with ROS. The degradation mechanism was proposed. Finally, the developed precursor was applied onto the real dye bearing sample.