The removal of heavy metals from the wastewater is a matter of concern for many countries but is a key issue in developing countries like Pakistan. These heavy metals are of serious health and environmental concern and there is a need to discover new and effective methods for their removal from industrial effluents. Removal of Copper (Cu) and Nickel (Ni) from industrial wastewater was studied using metal oxide nanoparticles such as magnesium oxide (MgO) and zinc oxide (ZnO). The metal oxide nanoparticles provide high adsorption capacity, simple operation and rapid adsorption.