Production of carbon adsorbent from agricultural waste (apricot stones) and its application for water purification from organic pollutants are investigated in the paper Activated carbon (AC) is prepared by pyrolysis of the biomass materials at 700 degrees C in a flow of steam Steam pyrolysis is a process which creates both energy liquid and gaseous products as well as high-grade activated carbons The produced AC as solid product is used for removal of phenol and p-nitrophenol It was found that the adsorption capacity is 152 mg/g for phenol and 179 mg/g for nitrophenol An hybrid adsorptive-membrane purification of water from phenol is performed and it is established that this combination considerably increases the effectiveness of the water purification from phenol (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved