The activated carbon was prepared by the modified acid treatment and activation method. The morphology of acid treated activated carbon (AC-T) was determined by BET surface area and SEM. AC-T was employed to remove cyanide from industrial effluent in a batch reactor. Furthermore, the processing parameters such as AC-T loading, pH, cyanide concentration, contact time and adsorption temperature were studied for the optimum removal of cyanide. The maximum removal of cyanide (94.5%) 90 mg L-1 is recorded at pH 7.0, AC-T loading of 30 g L-1 in a contact time of 25 min at 30 degrees C of adsorption temperature.