Abstract Presence of heavy metals in the aquatic systems has become a serious problem. As a result, there has been a great deal of attention given to new technologies for removal of heavy metal ions from contaminated waters. In this study, we carried out the elimination of the ions of cobalt, cadmium and manganese in solution by adsorption on a clay treated of the region may sour. The activation of clay is carried out by chemical way using the acid chloridric at moderate temperature. In order to optimise the operating conditions of the adsorption process, various studies on the kinetics, capacity, weight, adsorbent dosage and initial métal concentration was conducted. Experimental isotherms of adsorption equilibrium results were validated accurately by models of Langmuir and Freundlich.