Boehmite (Al(OH)O) was employed for the removal of aqueous phosphate in the presence of harmful anions such as carbonate, sulphate, nitrate, nitrite, chloride and fluoride at 298 K. Although boehmite was shown to remove a certain simultaneous removal of phosphate together with fluoride, no influence of the presence of carbonate, sulphate, nitrate, nitrite and chloride on the removal of phosphate by boehmite was observed. In the present study, two kinds of boehmite, a commercially available form and boehmite prepared using a sol-gel technique, were employed for the simultaneous removal of phosphate and fluoride, and it was found that the latter form was superior for such removal. Solid-state 31 P MAS NMR analyses revealed that, in the presence of fluoride, phosphate was removed onto boehmite as different types of phosphate species, depending on the solution pH and the source of boehmite.