In this study, chitosan and activated carbon (AC) were used as low cost materials for heavy metals removal and they were characterized by SEM, FTIR and X-ray. In the case of batch experiment chitosan and AC give a good removal of Fe, Cu and Zn from aqueous solutions under the effects of sorbent dose, pH, contact time, temperature and initial metal concentration. For application of the removal effect of chitosan and AC on water samples collected from River Nile at Helwan, Hawamdia and El-Kanater El-Khiria cities in greater Cairo, the two sorbents showed excellent removal of the industrial wastewater. Our results show the order of removal of the investigated heavy metals for chitosan were Fe> Pb> Cu> Zn> Mn while for AC were Mn> Cu> Fe> Pb> Zn. So chitosan and AC can be used as a good absorbent materials cheap, effective and nontoxic for heavy metal removal.