Carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogels were synthesized by grafting of acrylamide (AAm) and methacrylic acid (MAAc) individually with different concentrations onto carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) using direct radiation grafting technique. It was found that for both Poly(CMC/AAm) and Poly(CMC/MAAc), the grafting yield and grafting ratio increase with the increasing monomer concentration. Also, it is noted that both grafting ratio and grafting yield of Poly(CMC/AAm) are higher than that of Poly(CMC/MAAc). The effect of different monomer concentrations on gel (%) and swelling behavior was studied. It is found that the increasing monomer concentration increases gel (%). For Poly(CMC/AAm) hydrogels, the swelling behavior decreases with increasing AAm concentration due to high crosslinking hydrogel formation, while as MAAc content increases, swelling behavior increases up to Poly(CMC/MAAc) 1:25 wt%. Swelling kinetics and diffusion mechanism indicate that the water penetration obeys non-Fickian transport mechanism. The structures and properties of the original CMC and the prepared Poly(CMC/MAAc) and Poly(CMC/AAm) were characterized using different analytical tools such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). This study provides a solution to the discharge of different pollutants from wastewater. The adsorption capacity of Poly(CMC/MAAc) and Poly(CMC/AAm) hydrogels toward heavy metals, Cu +2 and Co
+2, dyes such as acid blue dye and methyl green, and organic contaminants such as 4-chlorophenol and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid has been investigated.