Leachate generated from one of the old landfills in Malaysia contains high concentrations of colour, COD, iron and ammoniacal. The ability of activated carbon-zeolite mixtures as an adsorbent was investigated in this research. Results of the batch experiments indicated that more than 522.2 mg/g of colour, 52.63 mg/g of iron, 232.6 mg/g of COD and 21.01 mg/g of ammoniacal nitrogen were removed by a mixture of activated carbon and zeolite. Results of the column studies indicated that more than 70 of colour and ammoniacal nitrogen, 80 of COD and 90 of iron were removed on the first five days. Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.