The purpose of this study was to investigate the adsorption potential of aluminium amended activated bamboo charcoal (AAABC) for defluoridation of drinking water using batch adsorption experiments. The preparation of activated bamboo charcoal (ABC) was optimized using different activation chemicals (H3PO4 and AlCl3/FeCl3) and at different calcination temperature (400-600 oC). The preparation of the adsorbent (AAABC) was then carried out by varying the ratio of aluminium hydro(oxide) (AO) to activated bamboo charcoal (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 2:1 and 4:1). Xray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were used to characterize the solid adsorbent. The specific surface area (SSA) was determined by nitrogen adsorption method at -196.2 oC. The point of zero charge (PZC) was measured by potentiometric mass titrations technique. The concentrations of total acidic and basic groups on AAABC surface were determined from NaOH (0.05 M) and HCl (0.05 M) uptake respectively by acid-base titration. The effect of adsorption parameters such as adsorbent dose, contact time, initial fluoride concentration, solution pH and the presence of interfering co-existing anions on adsorption of fluoride onto AAABC were investigated. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics models were used to determine adsorption parameters. The performance of AAABC was also evaluated in terms of potential for regeneration using different eluent (NaOH) concentrations (0.1, 1 and 5 %) at different time interval (30 and 60 min). The results obtained from the optimization experiment showed that the adsorbent (AAABC) in which the ABC was impregnated in AlCl3/FeCl3 solution and treated at 400 oC showed higher fluoride uptake capacity. The 1:1 ratio of AO to ABC has also showed higher fluoride uptake capacity after 48 hrs. agitation time. The characterization results showed that inorganic particles were dispersed on the surface of carbon as shown by SEM images and EDS spectra. The main elements found by EDS were carbon, oxygen, aluminium, iron, sodium, and sulfur. Fluoride was associated with the AO particles in the pore spaces of ABC after adsorption. Most peaks from XRD diffractogram correspond to Ca3Al2O6. The SSA was reduced from 80.5 to 3.7 m2/g, when the ABC was impregnated with AO, indicating that the AO particles might cover the surface or pore spaces found in ABC. The PZC of AAABC was found to be 9.6 and the surface acidic and basic groups were found to be 0.75 and 0.125 mmol/g respectively. The rate of adsorption was fairly rapid and maximum fluoride uptake (around 90 %) was attained within 3 hrs. contact time iv with optimum adsorbent dose of 0.8 g/L and an initial fluoride concentration of 10 mg/L. Maximum adsorption occurred at a pH range from 5-9 at an initial fluoride concentration of 10 mg/L. It was also observed that the presence of certain co-existing anions (sulfate and chloride) have negligible effect on removal of fluoride, while bicarbonate anion showed significant effect. The adsorption data were well fitted to the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 21.1 mg/g. The kinetic studies showed that the adsorption of fluoride by AAABC obeys a pseudo-second-order rate equation with an average rate constant of 9.4 x 10-2 g/min.mg. The adsorbed fluoride could be easily desorbed (85.71 %) by treating the exhausted adsorbent with 0.1 % NaOH. Due to its high adsorption capacity compared to commercially available aluminium hydroxidebased adsorbents for fluoride removal, AAABC is a highly promising material for defluoridation of drinking water. Key words: Fluoride, bamboo waste, activated charcoal, adsorption, aluminium hydro(oxide).