Naturally occuring matter (NOM), a heterogeneous mixture of complex organic compounds, is invariably present in all surface and ground waters. These materials act as substrate for the growth of bacteria in the distribution system. The disinfection of such water by chlorination produces disinfection by products consisting of several halogenated compounds which are toxic and carcinogenic. As gallic acid is the building block of most NOM, its adsorptive removal from water has been studied using activated carbon columns. The operating variables studied are the hydraulic loading rate (HLR), bed depth (Z), and the feed concentration (Co). The breakthrough curves are S-shaped and the breakthrough time increases with increasing Z and decreases with increasing HLR and Co. The adsorption increases with increasing HLR and is maximum around HLR=8m3/hr/m2. The column design parameters such as the critical bed depth and the depth of the mass transfer zone (MTZ) as calculated using the bed depth service time (BDST) approach are found to agree fairly closely with the experimental values. MTZ is smaller for the carbon cloth indicating its better adsorption characteristics. The adsorption column parameters such as the treated volume and the mass of the carbon required for a desired effluent concentration have been determined from the column data.