The article examines the ability of natural clays to extract heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions by ion exchange. The process of extracting metal ions is considered on the example of the absorption of manganese, nickel and cobalt from natural waters. To study the chemical and mineralogical composition of natural kaolin, the following were used in the work: X-ray diffraction and X-ray phase methods, as well as IR spectroscopy. The article presents a comparative analysis of the adsorption of manganese, cobalt and nickel ions on natural kaolin at different temperature conditions. The nature of the interaction of the studied metal ions with kaolin has been established. The results obtained on the adsorption of the ions under study show the efficiency of using natural kaolin clay for water purification.