The potential of activated carbon from palm kernel shell (PKS-AC) to improve the quality of surface water and greywater based on the measurements of the parameters pH, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved oxygen (TDS) and total suspended solids (TSS) was investigated in the present study. The PKS was acid treated with aqueous H 3 PO 4 (1 N) for overnight at room temperature and then subjected to heat treatment at 550 C for 2 h. The efficiency of the PSK-AC samples of 30 and 40 mm thicknesses was examined for reduction of the above parameters in surface water and greywater samples for 5, 15, 30 and 60 min of the filtration process. The efficiency of COD reduction by 50 and 56.44%, that of TDS by 57.81% and 22%, and that of TSS by 83.11 and 42.11% were detected using the PSK-AC samples above, respectively. The OH group contributed most to the removal of pollutants among the OH, N-H, C¼O, C¼C, C-O-C, C-O-H main functional groups pointed out via Fourier Transform Infra-red (FTIR) analysis on the surface. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed that the surface of the raw PSK-AC appeared smooth with holes on the external surface, while the grains were filled in the PSK-AC after the adsorption process. ARTICLE HISTORY