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The purpose of this study was to investigate the removal of ammonium from aqueous solutions using a novel zeolite obtained from coal fly-ash. The zeolite was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Batch experiments were carried out to investigate adsorbent dosage, shaking time, initial pH, initial ammonium concentration, and competitive cations. Freundlich and Langmuir models were used to describe the equilibrium isotherm data. The SEM and XRD images indicated that most of the synthetic zeolite obtained from coal fly-ash was crystalline, and zeolite Na-P1 was the major component. Adsorbent dosage, shaking time, initial pH, initial ammonium concentration, and competitive cations all affected NH4+-ion removal from aqueous solutions. Equilibrium modeling data were fitted to linear Langmuir and Freundlich models. The results demonstrated that the novel zeolite obtained from coal fly-ash displayed a faster adsorption rate and higher adsorption capacity than did other zeolites reported in the literature. This implies that the zeolite has potential applications in removing ammonium pollutants from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]