The electrocoagulation (EC) process was used to pretreat wastewater from the manufacture of wet-spun acrylic fibers, and the effects of varying the operating parameters, including the electrode area/wastewater volume (A/V) ratio, current density, interelectrode distance and pH, on the EC treatment process were investigated. About 44% of the total organic carbon was removed using the optimal conditions in a 100 min procedure. The optimal conditions were a current density of 35.7 mA cm(-2), an A/V ratio of 0.28 cm(-1), a pH of 5, and an interelectrode distance of 0.8 cm. The biodegradability of the contaminants in the treated water was improved by the EC treatment (using the optimal conditions), increasing the five-day biological oxygen demand/chemical oxygen demand ratio to 0.35, which could improve the effectiveness of subsequent biological treatments. The improvement in the biodegradability of the contaminants in the wastewater was attributed to the removal and degradation of aromatic organic compounds, straight-chain paraffins, and other organic compounds, which we identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The EC process was proven to be an effective alternative pretreatment for wastewater from the manufacture of wet-spun acrylic fibers, prior to biological treatments. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.