Oil sands companies produce substantial quantities of tailings known to contain high concentrations of dissolved organic by-products. The use of petroleum coke was proposed as a potential adsorbent for organic contaminant removal from tailings pond water. Physical activation was used to create a greater surface area and porosity within the delayed and fluid coke. Increased temperature (900oC), steam rate (0.5 mL/min), and activated time (6 h) led to high iodine numbers of 670 and 620 mg/g for activated delayed and fluid cokes, respectively. For both best activated cokes, the micropore to mesopore ratio was approximately 50:50. When 5 g/L of activated delayed and fluid cokes were added to the tailings water, 91% of the dissolved organic carbon and 92% of the naphthenic acids were removed. Such analyses indicate that an oil sands waste by-product can be used to treat tailings pond water to remove toxic and corrosive organic contaminants.