Water soluble polymers were prepared by the reaction of poly (methyl acrylate) (PMA) with dibasic amino acids such as L-arginine or L-lysine (LS) in the presence of alcoholic sodium hydroxide. These polymers react with copper (II) ion in dilute aqueous solution to form complexes which have a good foaming ability. Then copper (II) ion can be removed and recovered by a foam treatment. Better results could be obtained when the (PMA-LS) reaction product was used. More than 99.9% of cadmium and cobalt or more than 99% of lead and nickel were also removed by (PMA-LS) reaction products.