The water-insoluble polymers poly(2-acrylamidoglycolic acid-co-2-acrylamide-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid) [P(AAGA-co-APSA)] and poly(2-acrylamidoglycolic acid-co-4-styrene sodium sulfonate) [P(AAGA-co-ESS)] were prepared by radical polymerization with 87.8 and 86.3 % of yield, respectively. Parameters including the water sorption capacity, effect of the pH and reaction time, maximum retention capacity of the metal ions, elution, regeneration, and selectivity were studied. The commercial resin Amberlite IRP-64 was used for comparison purposes. Laboratory tests showed that both resins had better capacities to remove Pb(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), and Hg(II) from an aqueous solution by batch method. P(AAGA-co-APSA) and P(AAGA-co-ESS) resins removed the metal ions faster than that commercial Amberlite IRP-64 resin.