For the PAC products, is it always better to have low basicity?

Today let’s talk about something about the basicity of Polyaluminum Chloride(PAC) products. We all know, for the PAC products, basicity is also an important element in determining the final price. Then is it always better to use the low basicity PAC?

Well, basicity should be determined based on the specific application scenario; there’s no absolute “high” or “low” for best. The following are key criteria for determining effectiveness:

Application Scenario Determines Advantages and Disadvantages
Wastewater Treatment:
Highly turbid wastewater (such as printing and dyeing, and chemical wastewater) is more suitable for products with higher basicity, as they offer a more effective flocculation effect.

Using high-basicity products for low-turbidity water (such as drinking water) may cause turbidity, so a low-basicity product should be selected.

Production Cost:
Higher basicity reduces raw material consumption and reduces production costs. However, drinking water-grade products have higher environmental requirements, which can increase raw material costs.

Industry Standard Reference: The basicity of industrial-grade polyaluminum chloride is typically around 85-90%, while that of drinking water-grade products is around 45-60%.

Selection Principles
Water quality determines salinity: For high turbidity water, choose a high-basicity PAC; for low turbidity or drinking water, choose a low-basicity PAC.

Economic Considerations: High-basicity PAC offers lower costs, but a balance must be struck between effectiveness and stability.

Experimental Verification: Before practical application, the optimal salinity should be determined through pilot tests to avoid theoretical deviations.

Effuent water treatment—PAC & PAM Applied

Influent and effluent treatment uses a variety of chemicals, including coagulants and flocculants like ferric chloride and aluminum sulfate to clump particles, disinfectants such as chlorine and ozone to kill microbes, and pH adjusters like lime and sulfuric acid to control acidity or alkalinity. Other chemicals like polymers and hydrogen peroxide are also used to aid in separation and break down contaminants. 

Coagulants and flocculants

  • Coagulants: These chemicals, like aluminum sulfate, ferric chloride, and polyaluminum chloride, neutralize the negative charge of suspended particles, causing them to clump together. 
  • Flocculants: Often polymers (like polyacrylamide), these are added to the water to bind the smaller clumps into larger, heavier particles called “flocs,” which can then be more easily removed by settling or filtration. 

We’ve been producing the cationic polyacrylamide for sludge dewatering, anionic polyacrylamide for waste water treatment for 26 years. Well ready for your call~

Rita

Gongyi Xinqi Polymer Co., Ltd.
www.xinqipolymer.com
Whatsapp: +86-17737518864 wa.me/8617737518864
Email: rita@xinqipolymer.com

Can PAM be used in seawater desalination?

Application Scenarios
PAM is primarily used as a flocculant in the pretreatment stage of desalination, removing suspended solids, colloids, and organic contaminants from raw water to improve water quality and reduce the burden on subsequent treatment processes (such as reverse osmosis membranes).

Product Types
Based on their ionic properties, PAMs are categorized into three types: anionic, cationic, and nonionic. Nonionic PAM (NPAM) has proven effective in desalination due to its wide applicability and pH sensitivity. For example, a desalination plant in Zhoushan successfully extended its membrane fouling cycle by three times by using nonionic PAM.

Precautions
Dosage Control: Excessive use may make floc separation difficult or affect subsequent process performance. Experimental optimization of the dosage is necessary.

PH Adjustment: The pH value must be adjusted based on the PAM type. For example, aluminum salt flocculants work best at low pH.

Compatibility: Interactions with other water treatment chemicals (such as scale inhibitors) must be considered. ‌

Water chemicals—price adjustment

You may have already felt the increasing price of PAC(polyaluminum chloride) products. While the PAM (polyacrylamide) price is likely to increase as well… Cold winter is coming~

Our price is still steady, hoping to get more clients. Please kindly contact Rita for price details. Whatsapp: https://wa.me/+8617737518864

Since the third quarter of 2025, the water treatment chemical industry has been experiencing unprecedented price volatility. Polyaluminium chloride (PAC), a core product, led the price surge. In September, Gongyi City Water Purification Materials Company raised the unit price to 25 yuan per bag, reaching the industry’s peak for the year.

Following closely, polyacrylamide (PAM) manufacturers announced a 200 yuan per ton price increase in late September, resulting in a combined effect of rising prices for both raw materials.

This price fluctuation has transcended typical seasonal fluctuations. Rising costs for raw materials like bauxite, production capacity reductions due to tightening environmental protection policies, and surging demand for industrial wastewater treatment have combined to create a triple pressure for continued price increases.

More seriously, the price increase is being transmitted down the supply chain, causing operating costs for water treatment companies to rise sharply. Some small manufacturers have suspended production and are waiting to see what happens. The industry as a whole has entered a severe winter period of high costs and high barriers to entry.

The core drivers of this round of water treatment chemical price fluctuations are multifaceted. From the supply side, the persistently high prices of basic raw materials like bauxite directly drive up PAC production costs.

PAM, on the other hand, is subject to fluctuations in international oil prices, further exacerbating cost pressures.

Environmental protection policies have become another key variable. Following the implementation of the newly revised Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, small and medium-sized enterprises have been forced to invest heavily in technological upgrades to meet emission standards. Some outdated production capacity has been withdrawn from the market, leading to a contraction in overall supply in the industry.

On the demand side, there has been a rigid growth trend. With stricter industrial wastewater discharge standards and expanded municipal wastewater treatment capacity, demand for PAC in the papermaking, printing and dyeing industries has increased by nearly 15% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the use of PAM, a deep treatment agent, in wastewater treatment in chemical parks has surged. This supply-demand disparity has been amplified by rising logistics costs. High fuel prices have increased transportation costs to 12% of total costs, forming the final link in the price transmission chain. Notably, the price increases of related products such as monoammonium phosphate reflect the fact that cost transmission across the entire chemical industry chain has entered a resonant phase.