BACKGROUND: Use of flocculation in wastewater treatment involves interactions of polymer with suspended solids and some dissolved organic compounds that can have a significant impact on aggregation process. RESULTS: It was found that a strong interaction between cationic compounds and dissolved pigments in anaerobically digested (AD) wastewater occurred. The interactions were investigated by light adsorption of the pigments using a commercial flocculant added in the solutions and through a liquidliquid extraction method using a model cationic surfactant (CTAB) dissolved in organic solvents. The absorbance of pigments decreased significantly with added cationic flocculant as the pigments and flocculants formed insoluble complexes that were removed by centrifugation. CONCLUSION: The absorbance results indicate that the pigments can form complexes even at high concentrations (e.g. 2000 mg L-1) of the flocculants. In addition, the extraction results demonstrated that pigments in the aqueous phase were transferred into the CTAB organic phase due to a strong interaction between the pigments and CTAB. These results suggest that the pigments present in AD effluent could be a negative factor for the flocculation process, probably resulting in the need for a high dosage of flocculants. Copyright (C) 2012 Society of Chemical Industry