In this study, sodium alginate (SA) was used as a carbon precursor and K2CO3 as an activator to prepare SA-based porous carbon (SAC) with high specific surface area in one step. The optimal product was SAC-1 which had good thermal stability, high carbon content and S-BET of 1073.40 m(2) g(-1), and the highest adsorption capacity for bisphenol A (BPA). Additionally, the obtained adsorption experimental data accorded with the pseudosecond-order kinetics and Langmuir model, and the saturated adsorption capacity of SAC-1 for BPA was 632.91 mg g(-1) at 308 K. Thermodynamic analysis showed that the adsorption process was a spontaneous endothermic process. Moreover, SAC-1 exhibited strong resistance to acid, alkali, coexistence of ions, and interference of organic matter. Furthermore, it showed good renewable performance through five cycles of experiments. Therefore, SAC-1 prepared by a simple one-step method had good adsorption and regeneration properties, which can efficiently remove organic pollutants form the water environment.