Water is second most essential for human being. Contamination of water makes it unsuitable for human consumption. Chromium ion is released to water bodies from various industries having high toxicity which affects the biota life in these waters. In this study aluminum oxide hydroxide was tested for its efficiency to remove trivalent chromium from aqueous solutions through batch mode experiments. Chromium concentrations in aqueous solutions and tannery waste water before and after adsorption experiments were determined using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The effects of pH, contact time, initial concentration and adsorbent dosage on the adsorption of Cr(III) were studied. The study revealed that more than 99 % removal of Cr(III) was achieved over wide range of initial pH (3–10). The optimum conditions for the removal of Cr(III) were found to be at pH 4–6 with 40 g/L adsorbent dose at 60 min of contact time. The adsorption capacity was assessed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The equilibrium data at varying adsorbent dose obeyed the two isotherms. The adsorbent was found to be efficient for the removal of Cr(III) from tannery waste effluent.