Silica gel was grafted with polymer containing a functional monomer for metal chelating, poly[1-(N,N-bis-carboxymethyl)amino-3-allylglycerol-co-dimethylacrylamide] (poly(AGE/IDA-co-DMAA)). A system for preconcentration and measurement of aluminum as complexed with iminodiacetic acid was developed. The effects of the analytical parameters, such as sample pH, contact time on sorption capacity of the chelating sorbent and matrix ions, were investigated. The optimum pH value for sorption of the aluminum ions was 6. A recovery of 91.6% was obtained for the metal ion with 0.5molL(-1) sulphuric acid as eluting agent. The chelating resin can be reused for five cycles without any significant changes in sorption capacity. The sorption capacity of functionalised sorbent was 25.3mgg(-1). The developed method was utilized for preconcentration and determination of aluminum in environmental water samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry with satisfactory results. The equilibrium adsorption data of Al(III) on modified sorbent were analysed by Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin. Based on equilibrium adsorption data the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Redlich-Peterson constants were determined to be 0.076, 3.21, and 3.46, respectively, at pH 6 and 20 degrees C.