The present study was designed to optimizing the adsorption of As (V) onto potato peel derived activated carbon (MPP-AC) by employing response surface method and central composite design. Adsorbent of cheap and locally available potato residue was produced based on chemical activation with H3PO4 subsequently carbonization to produce the porous activated carbon. The individual and interactive effects of five variables including initial arsenic concentration, temperature, time, dosage amount and pH of the medium were investigated. Based on the statistic analysis (ANOVA), the quadratic model was developed associating the adsorption capacity (qe). The optimum conditions were obtained of 9.98 mg L-1 of initial As (V) concentration, 28 °C of temperature, 39.7 min of time, 0.97 g of adsorbent dose and 7.3 of pH. The maximum adsorption capacity was 0.27 mg g-1 and 76.5% removal efficiency. The equilibrium isotherms and kinetic studies for estimating the mechanism of process demonstrated a good fit to Langmuir model and the pseudo-second order, respectively. The results of this study showed that the feasibility of central composite design for control adsorption process and indicated the use of activated carbon of potato residue have important implications for As (V) removal.