Alkaline residue, a common solid waste generated from the ammonia-soda process for the production of soda ash, has been converted into hydroxyapatite for Pb2+ removal from wastewater. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the preparation conditions which were Ca/P (molar ratio), reaction temperature and reaction time, with the Pb2+ removal percentage as targeted response. The optimum conditions were identified to be Ca/P of 1.29, reaction temperature of 165.87 degrees C and reaction time of 14.5h. Batch tests were conducted to evaluate the adsorption performance of optimum adsorbent ( O-HAP), and the adsorption data were analyzed with different kinetic and isotherm models. The results showed that the pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model could best describe the adsorption of Pb2+ on O-HAP. The maximum adsorption capacity calculated from Langmuir equation was 1429 mg/g, which was greater than other familiar adsorbents. The MINTEQ results predicted that the formation of different Pb precipitates was the main mechanism in Pb2+ removal process, which was in good agreement with the kinetic and thermodynamic studies and were confirmed by the SEM-EDS and XRD analysis. In addition to aqueous medium, the O-HAP also could efficiently immobilize Pb2+ from contaminated soil. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.