Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra-835 215, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India E-mail : kamakshi.1991@gmail.com, poonamtirkey04@gmail.com, tbhattacharya@bitmesra.ac.in Manuscript received 15 November 2017, revised 06 March 2018, accepted 07 March 2018 Selenium, a non-metal, is a member of chalcogen group which is a naturally occurring metalloid. It exists in +6, +4, 0 and –2 oxidation states. The permissible limit of selenium for drinking water is 0.05 mg/L (WHO guidelines) whereas; according to Bureau of Indian Standards the acceptable limit is 0.01 mg/ L. The raw organic waste material (Sweet lime ‘Citrus limetta’ juice residue) was used for adsorbent preparation for selenium removal from drinking water. The adsorbent prepared was characterized using SEM, EDS, FTIR and ZPC (Zero point charge). Batch adsorption process was used for optimization of adsorption parameters. Optimization study revealed maximum removal efficiency of 93.7% for selenium concentration of 0.1 mg/L for adsorbent dose of 0.05 g/50 ml Se solution having a contact time of 30 min, agitation speed : 650 RPM, pH : 4 and temperature : 313 K. After adsorption the EDS data showed the presence of selenium. The Temkin isotherm is the best fitted isotherm model indicating progressive saturation of the solid and also it indicated chemical adsorption.