Char produced from low rank coal briquettes is potentially a cheap adsorbent suitable for the removal of trace levels of soluble organic compounds from water. In this study, briquette char produced from Victorian low rank coal was used to adsorb the organic compound p-nitrophenol (PNP) from aqueous solution, where nitrophenol is representative of low molecular weight adsorbates. Once concentrated on the adsorbent, attempts were made to remove the PNP by desorption and biodegradation. Desorbed PNP was degraded to some degree by three bacteria (Pseudomonas putida, Arthrobacter sp., and Moraxella sp.). The rates of PNP biodegradation by the three bacteria were followed, together with the corresponding rates of formation of the nitrite ion degradation product. Evidence is presented to indicate large microbial flee particle formation for both Pseudomonas putida and Arthrobacter leads to loss of nitrite ion by denitrification. Removal of PNP from the adsorbent by desorption/biodegradation was shown to be much faster than by desorption alone, but not all nitrophenol was removed from the adsorbent by the desorption/biodegradation process.