A comparative study of the adsorbents prepared from several industrial wastes for the removal of 2-bromophenol, 4-bromophenol and 2,4-dibromophenol has been carried out. The results show that maximum adsorption on carbonaceous adsorbent prepared from fertilizer industry waste has been found to be 40.7, 170.4 and 190.2 mg g(-1) for 4-bromophenol 2-bromophenol and 2,4-dibromophenol, respectively. As compared to carbonaceous adsorbent, the other three adsorbents (viz., blast furnace sludge, dust, and slag) adsorb bromophenols to a much smaller extent. This has been attributed to the carbonaceous adsorbent having a larger porosity and consequently higher surface area. The adsorption of bromophenols on this adsorbent has been studied as a function of contact time, concentration and temperature. The adsorption has been found to be endothermic, and the data conform to the Langmuir equation. The further analysis of data indicates that adsorption is a first order process. A comparative study of adsorption results with those obtained on standard activated charcoal sample shows that prepared carbonaceous adsorbent is about 45% as efficient as standard activated charcoal in removing bromophenols. To test the practical utility of this adsorbent, column operations were also carried out. The results were found satisfactory in removing bromophenols by column operations. Therefore, the present investigations recommend the use of carbon slurry waste as inexpensive adsorbent for small scale industries of developing/poor countries where disposal of solid waste of various industries and proper treatment of polluted wastewater is a serious problem. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.