An easily separated dephosphorization adsorbent, magnetic lanthanum-carrying eggshell (ES@Fe3O4-La) was obtained by loading lanthanum ions and iron oxides on the eggshell (ES). ES@Fe3O4-La was characterized by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and laser particle size analyzer. The adsorption characteristics of ES@Fe3O4-La for phosphate in water were studied. The results showed that ES@Fe3O4-La had obviously higher adsorption capacity for phosphate than eggshell. The maximum adsorption capacity (qmax ) of ES@Fe3O4-La for phosphate was 18.02 mg/g at 25℃, while that on eggshell was only 2.58 mg/g. The phosphate adsorption on ES@Fe3O4-La was an endothermic process. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic data were well described by the Langmuir equation and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. In addition, the initial pH value of phosphate solution had a great influence on the adsorption of phosphate on ES@Fe3O4-La. When pH was 3~4, ES@Fe3O4-La displayed the best removal effect of phosphate.