In the title hydrated salt, C(15)H(11)Br(2)N(2) (+)·Cl(-)·2H(2)O, the complete imidazolium cation is generated by a crystallographic twofold axis, with one C atom lying on the axis. The chloride ion and both water mol-ecules of crystallization also lie on a crystallographic twofold axis of symmetry. The cation is non-planar, the dihedral angle formed between the central imidazolium and benzene rings being 12.9 (3)°; the dihedral angle between the symmetry-related benzene rings is 25.60 (13)°. In the crystal, O-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds result in supra-molecular chains along c mediated by eight-membered {⋯HOH⋯Cl}(2) synthons. These are consolidated by C-H⋯O and π-π [centroid-centroid distance = 3.687 (3) Å] inter-actions.