A new humic acid (HA) based adsorbent was prepared by coating humic acid on chitosan tripolyphosphate (CTPP) beads. Humic acid-chitosan tripolyphosphate (HA-CTPP) beads thus obtained were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Swelling capacity studies of CTPP and HA-CTPP beads conducted in the pH range, pH=110 showed that HA-CTPP beads are more stable against swelling than CTPP beads. Equilibration of HA-CTPP beads in water for different pH showed that leaching of HA from the beads is negligible and the beads are stable for adsorption applications. Adsorption of Pb(II) ions onto HA-CTPP beads were studied as a function of various operational parameters such as initial pH, metal ion concentration, and contact time. The results showed that HA-CTPP beads are suitable for Pb(II) ions adsorption and the kinetics of sorption very well fit into pseudo-second order model. The Langmuir model was found to be more suitable for explaining the observed adsorption data, giving a theoretical maximum adsorption capacity of 223.7mg/g. HA-CTPP beads could possibly find application in the treatment of waste water contaminated with other toxic and/or heavy metals.