An agricultural waste, Cyperus rotundus (CR), was used as a low-cost adsorbent to remove two toxic heavy metal ions (copper [Cu] and zinc [Zn]) from aqueous solutions in single and binary systems. Surface characteristics of CR were investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. Effects of CR dosage and contact time were investigated at 30°C. Kinetic and isotherm aspects of heavy metal adsorption were studied. Adsorption kinetics of heavy metals were studied in single and binary systems and rate sorption was found to conform to a pseudo second-order kinetic model. Intraparticle diffusion plots showed that the adsorption processes involve multistep kinetic stages. Isotherm aspects of heavy metals in single and binary systems followed the Freundlich isotherm. Maximum adsorption capacity of CR for Cu and Zn was 500 mg/g and 208 mg/g for the single system. Results indicated that CR is effective for adsorption of Cu and Zn from aqueous solutions.