This study investigated the use of carbon-coated-sand (CCS), as a more sustainable alternative to activated carbon (AC), for the removal of Ni2+and Cu2+ ions from an aqueous solution. The CCS was synthesized from sugar and sand without any additional binders and then activated using 0.1 M H2SO4 to form the modified version called MCSS. Activation increased the specific surface area by 15-folds from 0.409 (CCS) to 6.183 (MCCS) m2/g. Multi-linear regression was applied to evaluate the adsorption capacity as a function of three independent factors: pH of the solution; contact time; and initial concentration of the adsorbate. The optimum adsorption of Cu2+ and Ni2+ was achieved at pH 6.0 for both adsorbents. Activation enhanced the adsorption capacity by 68% for Cu2+and 54% for Ni2+. The adsorption behavior under different conditions was successfully modeled using multi-linear regression with high accuracy R2 > 0.86 for CCS and R2 > 0.96 for MCCS. Cost estimation provided encouraging evidence of the cost-effectiveness of CCS and MCCS compared to activated carbon. The results obtained in this study revealed that carbon-coating is a promising greener low-cost technique for water treatment.