Phosphite uptake from real spent electroless nickel (EN) plating baths of 3 and 5 turnovers by akaganeite, ferrihydrite, and AMF adsorbent was studied batch-wise. The akaganeite exhibited high affinity toward phosphite ions with uptake of 1.0-1.2 mmol g(-1) depending on the turnovers, whereas the hypophosphite and sulfate uptakes were very low (<0.1 mmol g(-1)).