Abstract: Due to the high accumulation of nutrients in water (primarily phosphates) because of increased use of fertilizers and plant protection products, it is necessary to apply various techniques for their detection, and then removal. Adsorption is one of the promising techniques to removing them. Magnetite (MG) modified cellulose membrane (Cell-MG), obtained by reaction of 3-aminosilane and subsequently with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid dianhydride functionalized waste Cell fibers (Cell-NH2 and Cell-DTPA, respectively), and amino-modified diatomite was used for phosphate ions removal from water. Cell-MG membrane was structurally and morphologically characterized using SEM and TEM techniques. The influences of operational parameters, i.e. pH, contact time, temperature, and the mass of adsorbent on adsorption and kinetics were studied in a batch system. The calculated capacities of 79.08 mg/g at 45 °C for phosphate ions were obtained from non-linear Langmuir model fitting. The reusability of adsorbent and results from wastewater purification showed that Cell-MG could be used as general-purpose adsorbent. Based on the kinetic studies the adsorption process follow the pseudo second-order model. Thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption process is endothermic and spontaneous.