<p>Forward osmosis (FO) is an innovative and promising technology for water treatment. The progress of the FO technique is based upon the development of suitable draw solutions (DS). Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are ineffective as draw solutions in the FO process due to their inability to generate sufficient osmotic pressure (i.e., driving force) for the transfer of pure water across the membrane. Therefore, in this work, MNPs were coated with chitosan (CS) and silicon dioxide (SiO₂) materials to synthesize smart draw solutions by the co-precipitation technique that enhances the performance of the FO process by augmenting flux and rejection percentage. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, AFM, SEM, EDS, FTIR, TEM, and Zeta potential, which showed their stability, crystalline morphology, spherical shape, and nano size. The effects of synthesis nanoparticles CS–Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ with different volumes (10, 20, and 30&#xa0;ml) of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as DS on the water flux and rejection efficiency of Methylene Blue 20&#xa0;ppm as FS were determined at 1, 2, 3, and 4&#xa0;g/L concentration of each type in FO mode across a thin film composite membrane. The results showed both the flux&#xa0;and the rejection rose with increasing DS concentration and reduced with time. The maximum water flux of the FO process was 10.97 and 10.3 LMH for CS-Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ 20&#xa0;ml TEOS DS, respectively at 4&#xa0;g/L concentration. Also, the higher rejection percentage was 93.95% and 95.56% for CS–Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ 20&#xa0;ml TEOS DS, respectively. At the end of the procedure, the MNPs coated were readily separable from the diluted DS by the application of a magnetic field.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>