Many factors which affect the adsorption of cationic polymers on fibers and fines have been investigated by many researchers that include contact time, pH, collision frequency, properties of cationic polymers and adsorbent, etc. But the effect of white water quality on the adsorption of cationic polymer have not been examined throughly. In this study, the adsorption of cationic PAM was analyzed as a function of white water quality. The adsorption of the cationic PAM was analyzed by two analysis methods, Kjeldahl nitrogen content measurement and electrokinetic measurements. When the distilled water was used, adsorbed amount of C-PAM and zeta-potential of fibers increased as a function of the addition of C-PAM. When closure level increased, nitrogen content of fibers increased indicating that the cationic PAM was adsorbed. Zeta-potential of fibers, however, showed no significant change with the increased addition of C-PAM. This showed that adsorption of C-PAM was not reflected by zeta-potential of fibers due to the deteriorated efficiency of C-PAM by the anionic contaminants in white water.