The photograph of a scanning electron microscope of both sludge and activated carbon shown in Fig. 1 reveals the surface texture and porosity of these samples. The surface structure of the sludge of Nishino was similar to activated carbon because the Nishino drinking water treatment plant used activated carbon in their treatment plant. The availability of the pores and internal surface is requisite for an effective adsorbent to remove heavy metal ions in water (Rao et al., 2006).