Eosin Y is used a colorant and dye but eosin Y is harmful toxic substance. In this study, the adsorption characteristics of granular activated carbon have been investigated for the adsorption of eosin dye dissolved in water. The effects of initial dye concentration, contact time, pH and temperature on adsorption of eosin by a fixed amount of activated carbon have been studied in batch adsorber and fixed bed. The adsorptivity of activated carbon for eosin Y were largely improved by pH control. When the pH was 3 in the sample, the eosin Y could be removed 99% of initial concentration (10 mg/L). The adsorption equilibrium data are successfully fitted to the Freundlich isotherm equation in the temperature range from 293 to 333 K. The estimated values of k and ${eta}$ are 19.56-134.62, 0.442-0.678, respectively. The effects of the operation conditions of the fixed bed on the breakthrough curve were investigated. When the inlet eosin Y concentration is increased from 10 to 30 mg/L, the corresponding adsorption breaktime appears to decrease from 470 to 268 min at bed height of 3 cm and a constant flow rate of 2 g/min. When the initial eosin Y flow rate is increased from 1 to 3 g/min, the corresponding adsorption breaktime appears to decrease from 272 to 140 min at bed height of 3 cm and inlet concentration of 10 mg/L. Also, breaktime increased with increasing bed height at flow rate of 2 g/min and inlet concentration of 10 mg/L. And length of adsorption zone showed similar patterns.