COD and UV254 of concentrate from reverse osmosis (RO) are removed significantly by powdered activated carbon (PAC) adsorption, which makes the effluent meet the related discharged standard or further reclamation demand. First, main adsorption factors and their levels were selected through orthogonal experiments. Then adsorption isotherms and adsorption kinetics equations about COD and UV254 were obtained by single factor experiments. Finally, adsorption model of COD and UV254 removal were established via response surface methodology (RSM) experiments, in which PAC dosage and adsorption time were acted as independent variables. COD and UV254 predictive removal of RSM model were 69.7% and 82.4% respectively, and the corresponding measured values were 65.3% and 81.8% when the PAC dosage was 0.9 g·L-1 and adsorption time was 50 min. It is shown RSM models can predict COD and UV254 removal very well in the design range, which provides a comprehensive and reliable data basis for engineering application.