Cationic surfactants can be used to modify surface of solids to promote adsorption of hydrophobic organic compounds. This behavior is due to the surfactant forming aggregate structure on the solid surface. Partition coefficients are commonly used to quantify the distribution of organic pollutants between the aqueous and particulate phases of aquatic system Partitioning of hydrophobic compounds to cetyltrimethylammonium bromide ( CTAB ) coated silicate has been investigated as a function of surfactant surface coverage at I=0 and 0.1 ionic strength. Toluene, Xylene, TCI sorption experiments demonstrated that the CTAB coated silicate was able to remove these hydrophobic organic compounds from solution The hydrophobic organic compound with the higher Kow had higher removals than lowest Kow hydrophobic organic compound.