Adsorption, mobility, and filtration ability of organic media toward metolachlor were evaluated in a series of laboratory experiments. Experimental variables included media type, metolachlor concentration, and equilibration time. Adsorption isotherms were determined by applying the log form of the Freundlich equation. Mobility was evaluated using glass columns filled with media, which were then surface spiked with metolachlor and then leached daily for 10 consecutive days. Peat, pine bark, combinations of these two media and a mixture of pine bark and sand adsorbed >90% of the 14C metolachlor. Freundlich sorption coefficients were 10.9, 18.2, 13.4, 14.2, and 11.0 for pine bark, peat, 5 pine bark: 1 peat, 3 pine bark: 1 peat, and 5 pine bark: 1 sand, respectively. In a timed exposure experiment using bark, minimum metolachlor adsorption (57%) was at 90 seconds and maximum adsorption (82%) required at least 1440 minutes. In column leaching studies, data for all media indicate that metolachlor is relatively immobile through these substrates. An initial pulse of metolachlor (<1.0 μg·liter-1) was detected with each medium up to the third wetting event with a subsequent decline (>0.5 μg·liter-1 for each medium) in the metolachlor recovered. Filtration efficiency of commercially formulated metolachlor from water passed through different lengths of pine bark filled filters was 0%, 17%, 20%, 22%, 23%, and 29% for filters 4, 20, 12, 8, 16, and 24 cm in length, respectively. These results support the contention that such filtration would be effective provided the residence time of water within the filter was sufficient for adsorption of the contaminant by the media to occur.