The present study was carried out to investigate the potential of cement hydrated at various time intervals for the removal of excess F-from aqueous solution by using batch adsorption studies. The influence of different adsorption parameters, viz. effect of adsorbent dose, initial concentration, pH, interfering ions and contact time were studied for their optimization. It was observed that the adsorbent exhibited reasonably significant F- removal over a wide range of pH. The presence of carbonate and bicarbonate ions in aqueous solution were found to affect the F- removal indicating that these anions compete with the sorption of F- on adsorbent. The equilibrium adsorption data were fitted well for both the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms and the adsorption capacities were calculated. Comparative studies for F-removal in simulated and field water show relatively higher F- removal in simulated water. XRD and SEM patterns of the hydrated cement were recorded to get better insight into the mechanism of adsorption process. From the experimental results, it may be concluded that HC was an efficient and economical adsorbent for F- removal. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.