The extraction of pollutants from water using activated biochar materials is a low cost, sustainable approach for providing safe water in developing countries. The adsorption of copper ions, Cu(II), onto pyrolyzed and activated dried banana peel was studied and compared with the adsorption of copper ions onto a commercial activated carbon, F-400. Both the physical and chemical properties of the banana peel and activated carbon were measured. Pyrolysis of dried banana peels resulted in the formation of a large, porous surface area adsorbent with strongly negative surface charges.Screening studies, which were designed to evaluate the effect of the mass of the adsorbent, pH of the solution, tumbling time, and initial Cu(II) concentration were conducted for each adsorbent. Equilibrium adsorption data were also analyzed, and the Freundlich isotherm resulted in a better fit than the Langmuir isotherm. The degree of favorability of adsorption of Cu(II) ions and adsorption capacity were 1.25 and 351.1 mg/g for pyrolyzed banana peel, respectively. The sorption kinetics fit a pseudo-second order equation. The mechanism of adsorption of metal ions on pyrolyzed banana peel followed ion exchange and electrostatic interactions resulting in the complexation of adsorbed ions.