In the present study an attempt was made to prepare, characterise and test Activated Carbon using H3PO4 as activating agent and its efficiency in chromium removal from tannery effluent. Characteristics viz. pH(7.06), Bulk Density (0.8 g/ml), Ash (12.4%), Conductivity (0.025µs), BET Surface Area ( 280.39m2/g), Moisture (7.2%) and percentage of carbon(73%) and oxygen (20%) content are compared with commercially available activated carbon. Activated carbon prepared from used tea dust and commercial, are characterised by XRD, SEM and EDX. The activated carbon both prepared and purchased, are evaluated for their chromium removal efficiency and found that activated carbon prepared from used tea dust is about 70% efficient when compared to commercially available activated carbon and thus present study adds one more bio-waste source as useful raw material for preparation of activated carbon.
