The adsorption of copper ions by chitosan, Dowex A-1, and Zerolit 225 has been investigated. The uptake of copper was determined from changes in concentration as measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. A preliminary investigation on the adsorption was conducted by batch-wise examining the effects on pH and the initial copper ion concentration. It was found that chitosan has an excellent loading capacity of copper, compared with Dowex A-1 and Zerolit 225.