Novel, highly ordered layered graphene oxide (GO) membranes with larger interlayer spacing were prepared by induced directional flow and were used as adsorbents for the removal of Cu2+, Cd2+ and Ni2+ from aqueous solutions. The effects of pH, ionic strength, contact time, metal ion concentration and cycle time on Cu2+, Cd2+ and Ni2+ sorption were investigated. The results indicated that the adsorption of Cu2+, Cd2+ and Ni2+ onto GO membranes was greatly influenced by the pH and weakly affected by the ionic strength. The adsorption isotherms for Cu2+, Cd2+ and Ni2+ were well fitted by the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacities of the GO membranes for Cu2+, Cd2+ and Ni2+ were approximately 72.6, 83.8 and 62.3mg/g, respectively. The adsorption kinetics of Cu2+, Cd2+ and Ni2+ onto GO membranes followed the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption equilibrium was reached in a shorter time. The GO membranes can be regenerated more than six times based on their adsorption/desorption cycles, with a slight loss in the adsorption capacity. The results demonstrated that the GO membranes can be used as effective adsorbents for heavy metal removal from water.