The present study deals with the competitive adsorption of cadmium (Cd(II)) and nickel (Ni(II)) ions onto bagasse fly ash (BFA) from single component and binary systems. BFA is a waste material obtained from the flue gas of the bagasse-fired boilers of sugar mills. Equilibrium adsorption is affected by the initial pH (pH(0)) of the solution. The pH(0) approximate to 6.0 is found to be the optimum for the individual removal of Cd(II) and Ni(II) ions by BFA. The pH of the system, however, increases during the initial sorption process for about 20 min and, thereafter, it remains constant. The equilibrium adsorption data were obtained at different initial concentrations (C-0 = 10-100 mg/l), 5 h contact time, 30 degrees C temperature, BFA dosage of 10 mg/l at pH(0) 6. The single ion equilibrium adsorption data were fitted to the non-competitive Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson (R-P) isotherm models. The R-P and the Freundlich models represent the equilibrium data better than the Langmuir model in the studied initial metal concentration range (10-100 mg/l). The adsorption capacity of Ni(II) is higher than that for Cd(II) for the binary metal solutions and is in agreement with the single-component adsorption data. The equilibrium metal removal decreases with increasing concentrations of the other metal ion and the combined action of Cd(II) and Ni(II) ions on BFA is generally found to be antagonistic. Equilibrium isotherms for the binary adsorption of Cd(II) and Ni(II) ions onto BFA have been analyzed by using non-modified Langmuir, modified Langmuir, extended Langmuir, extended Freundlich and Sheindorf-Rebuhn-Sheintuch (SRS) models. The competitive extended Freundlich model fits the binary adsorption equilibrium data satisfactorily and adequately. Desorption with various solvents showed that the hydrochloric acid is the best solvent; the maximum elution being about 65% for Cd(II) and about 42% for Ni(II). Since BFA is a waste material obtained at almost no cost, the spent BFA can be combusted to recover its energy value and the bottom ash can be blended with cementitious mixture for making building blocks. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.