Abstract: Active carbon was prepared from rice hull，which was treated with concentrated sulfuric acid. And through the adsorption of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) waste water，the preparation of active carbon with the optimal adsorption capacity was studied. The optimum condition in the treatment of HPAM waste water with active carbon was obtained through a series of experiments.The adsorption kinetics was studied，and the adsorption isotherm was determined. The result indicated that the preparation of active carbon by concentrated sulfuric treatment of rice hull was simple and the as-prepared active carbon was effective in removing HPAM，so it had a good prospective in the treatment of polymer-containing waste water.