Printing and dyeing industry is a considerable source of environmental contamination. In this study treatment of printing and dyeing wastewater with a new type of sewage treatment agent, fly-ash coated with chitosan particles (FCCP), was examined. The effects of pH, stirring time, sedimentation time and temperature on color, COD, turbidity and NH3-N removal were determined. The optimum dosage of FCCP and the influence of individual factors on removal efficiency were tested. The optimum parameters determined using the L16(45) orthogonal experiment were as follows: FCCP (weight ratio of chitosan to fly-ash 1:6) dosage, 4 g·L−1; temperature, 35°C; pH, 4. The stirring time and sedimentation time were 20 min and 5 h, respectively. Under these optimum conditions, the color, COD and NH3-N removal ratios were 97%, 80% and 75%, respectively.