A practicable liquid surfactant membrane process for phenol removal is proposed with a stirred countercurrent column used as the liquid membrane contact equipment. The constituents of liquid membranes, such as internal aqueous phase and surfactant, the type of column, and the operating conditions for efficient and continuous performance of the liquid surfactant membrane process, have been examined. When NaOH solution was used as the internal aqueous phase and ECA4360J was used as the surfactant, the W/O emulsion was stable for the duration of column operation. More than 97% phenol could be removed from the feed solution. Nearly complete demulsification was also achieved by gentle agitation with an electrostatic demulsifier.