Adsorption of phenols from aqueous solutions onto a polymeric sorbent, SP206, was carried out in a finite batch adsorber. Multicomponent adsorption equilibrium data were experimentally measured and compared with those predicted by the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) based on the Langmuir equation as single species isotherms. Intraparticle diffusion during adsorption was assumed to be expressed by the pore diffusion and the surface diffusion mechanisms and the effective diffusion coefficient of each species was determined by comparing experimental and predicted concentration histories. The surface diffusion model incorporated with the IAST successfully simulated the adsorption behaviour of a phenols-polymeric sorbent system up to three-species mixtures. the regeneration of spent sorbents was also investigated to get information for a cyclic adsorption process.