Natural zeolite coated with titanium dioxide (TiO2) was used as an adsorbent to rapidly remove humic acid (HA) from an aqueous solution. Coating TiO2 onto zeolite markedly improved its efficiency in adsorbing HA: most of the bulk organic matter (80%) could be removed within 5 min of adsorption by the zeolite/TiO2 particles at neutral pH, whereas less than 20% was removed by bare zeolite alone. In addition, immobilisation of TiO2 onto zeolite permitted easier separation of the adsorbent from the treated water. Photocatalytic properties of TiO2 were exploited for the regeneration of the adsorbent. The adsorbent was shown to be readily regenerated by photocatalytic oxidation and was still effective in removing HA after 5 adsorption/regeneration cycles. These results indicate that TiO2-coated zeolite can be a very attractive adsorbent for the rapid removal of HA from aqueous solutions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved