To investigate the effect of surface charge and surface roughness on membrane fouling, the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with a neutral charge was coated on nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. The coating of PVA on the NF membrane improved the salt rejecton rate. With the coating of PVA on the RO memrane, the salt rejection rate was decreased. Our experiment revealed that the coating of PVA on the negative charged membranes has an influence on the fouling properties. By the coating of PVA, the surface negative charge of NF and RO membranes was decreased. In the case of RO membrane, the surface morphology became smooth. It also demonstrated that the extent of fouling is significantly influenced by the surface roughness and the surface charge. In our fouling experiment, a membrane with a smooth and neutral surface was fouled less. Although an RO membrane has a rough surface, the fouling on the membrane significantly decreased because of the reduced surface charge. When the PVA-coated NF membrane was applied to the dyeing wastewater effluent, it enabled us to recycle the permeate for washing water. With the PVA-coated RO membrane, the reuse of the permeate for dyeing was possible. Moreover, the membrane fouling was not severe except for the RO membrane.