This paper focuses on introducing low-cost water treatment options by using waste products from the beer industry, thereby contributing to cleaner production. To this purpose, sorptive removal of fluoride from drinking water using locally available natural grade diatomite (NGD) and brewery waste diatomite (BWD) was studied in a batch adsorption system. The equilibrium was achieved within an adsorption time of 60 min for NGD and 30 min for BWD at the optimum pH of 5 and adsorbent dose of 60 g/L. The equilibrium data were best fitted to the Freundlich isotherm (R-2 =0.979 and 0.995) for NGD and BWD, respectively. The adsorption capacity (qmax) calculated from the Langmuir isotherm value obtained for NGD and BWD was 0.917 mg/g and 0.617 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption kinetics data for both adsorbents followed the pseudo-second-order model (R-2 = 0.734 and 0.947 for NGD and BWD, respectively). The influence of other anions on fluoride removal process has a slight influence, following the order PO43- > HCO3- > CO32- > SO (2-)(4) > NO3- > Cl- for both adsorbents. The materials can be used on a system level for real water sample of low fluoride concentration (<= 5 mg/L) and could be regenerated. Though BWD is considered as a waste for the brewery, it is used as a useful material for removal of fluoride. This application can be a stepping stone for providing a solution for safe management of industrial waste while providing a resource for water treatment on a system level. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.