A method was used to investigate the potential for using water clarifier sludge to remove copper in a fluidized-bed reactor (FBR). This study was conducted to evaluate the removal of copper in an aquatic system without prior treatment. Chemical analyses of water clarifier sludge through inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrophotometry indicated that silicon, aluminum and iron oxides made up more than 84% of this average composition, similar to the composition of clay. The experimental results indicated that the copper removal efficiency was highly dependent on the pH. pH values also influence the character of the water clarifier sludge. After the copper was adsorbed by the water clarifier sludge, the pH of the solution was slightly increased. In the FBR, the copper removal efficiency reached 90% when the initial copper concentration was 20 mg/L, the pH was 4 and the operating time was 60 min. In addition, copper precipitation occured on the surface of clarifier sludge when the initial copper concentration was 20 mg/L and the pH was 7.0. The kinetics of copper ion adsorption at pH 5 showed that 94% copper ion was removed in 60 min and the adsorption equilibrium was attained in 5 h. The mechanisms of adsorption of copper ions on water clarifier sludge including the formation of surface complexation and surface precipitate. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.