The biofouling potential is one of the important factors to design and to select membranes for water and wastewater treatment. In this investigation, the effect of membrane surface properties during the attachment of S. cerevisiae cells was examined using a laboratory-scale membrane filtration cell enabling direct microscopic observation of microbial cell deposition. The experimental results from 6 commercially available membranes showed that the initial adhesion rate, k(d) , was affected by the zeta potentials, hydrophobicity, and roughness of membrane surfaces. The k(d) value was significantly lower at the membrane which had more negative, hydrophilic, and smooth surfaces. The results will be helpful to minimize the time for selecting membranes in different situations, and for testing the performance of newly designed membranes.