Water contamination is a growing challenge across industries like construction, land development, and mining. Some wastewater treatment options are slow-acting, while others fail to address high volumes of turbid water. So, why are flocculants trusted by water filtration experts as the best for handling runoff?

Flocculants are considered one of the top water treatment solutions because they work by removing the charges of particles. Particles then stick to each other and form clumps or flocks, which can be removed easily. The process doesn’t cause any harmful change in water conditions, and its rapid action is best for handling industrial water treatments.

This guide explores the science behind flocculants, their key applications, and why they are essential for industries handling turbid water.

What Are Flocculants?

Flocculants are water treatment products that can address water turbidity in high volumes. These natural agents promote the aggregation of small suspended particles into larger clusters, known as flocs, or flakes of material. These flocs settle at the bottom of water bodies due to having higher density, making it easier to filter or discharge the water safely.  

How Do Flocculants Work? Fast Industrial Water Treatment In 3 Steps.

Flocculants use the principle of charge to treat turbid water effectively. The process can described in 3 simple steps:

1. Neutralizing Charges: Typically, particles or the same matter carry negative charges, and repel each other. Flocculants contain cationic molecules that have a positive charge. These molecules neutralize the electric charge on suspended particles, allowing them to attract rather than repel each other.
2. Clumping Together: The neutralized particles now bond due to weak intermolecular attraction, forming larger flocs. Some particles may also become hydrophobic, leading to particles clumping together to avoid the water molecules.
3. Sedimentation: As the Flocs gain a higher density than water and weigh more, they settle due to gravity at the bottom, leaving cleaner water at the surface.

This process is significantly faster than most other wastewater treatment options. It improves water clarity and ensures compliance with environmental standards.

7 Reasons Why Flocculants Are Better for Industrial Water Treatment

While other water treatment products exist to address water turbidity, flocculants have significant advantages over them. Let’s check out the 7 advantages they have as a wastewater treatment process over the others: 

1. Superior Particle Removal Efficiency: Flocculants effectively neutralize charges and aggregate fine particles, making it easier to remove suspended solids that traditional filtration alone struggles with.
2. Cost-Effective for Large-Scale Treatment: Compared to advanced filtration or chemical precipitation, flocculants require lower doses and reduce operational costs, making them ideal for high-volume industrial wastewater treatment.
3. Faster Sedimentation and Filtration: Flocculants promote rapid settling of particles, significantly reducing the time needed for sedimentation and improving filtration system efficiency.
4. Better Removal of Heavy Metals & Contaminants: Some flocculants can also handle heavy metals, oil residues, and organic pollutants, making them highly effective for industries like mining, construction, and manufacturing.
5. Lower Chemical Presence: Using flocculants reduces the need for additional coagulants and pH adjusters, minimizing chemical usage and ensuring a more environmentally friendly process.
6. Usable On Different Water Types: Flocculants work in various pH ranges and water conditions, making them effective for industrial effluents, stormwater, and construction runoff, unlike some treatment methods that require precise conditions.
7. Improved Sludge Handling & Dewatering: Flocculants aid in dewatering sludge, producing drier waste with lower disposal costs, making industrial waste management more efficient.

No other water treatment options are so well suited for industrial water treatment. Flocculants have diverse applications, and are more reliable, making them an ace in the hole for companies.

3 Industries That Benefit from Flocculants

Thanks to their diverse applications, flocculants are most used in these 3 industries: 

1. Construction & Land Development: Construction sites generate runoff containing soil, clay, and heavy metals. Uncontrolled discharge can pollute local ecosystems. Using flocculants for construction runoff helps settle these particles, ensuring compliance with environmental laws.
2. Mining & Industrial Operations: Mining sites deal with high levels of sediment and metal contamination in wastewater. Flocculants improve filtration, making it easier to treat and recycle water.
3. Agriculture & Stormwater Management: Farms and municipalities use flocculants to control sediment in retention ponds and stormwater runoff, preventing erosion and soil loss.

While flocculants seem purpose-built for handling kinds of industrial water treatment, some tower over others. While other flocculants may take minutes to start working, there’s one out there that only takes a minute. 

Enter TigerFloc by Floc Systems. The Best Industrial Water Treatment By The Best Water Treatment Solutions Company.

TigerFloc flocculant is trusted by water filtration experts in the US and Canada for a simple reason. It’s better. It starts working faster than other flocculants, finishes creating flocs within a minute, and keeps working even if more turbid water is added. Essentially, it outperforms flocculants by the same margin that flocculants outperform other water treatment products.

Floc Systems also offers dewatering bags that are micro-pored, custom-made products meant to be durable and at the same time balance both the water flow rate and filtration of the dirty water passing through them. You cannot get better dewatering bags in the industry.

So, what are you waiting for? If you have to deal with industrial wastewater in large volumes, get the TigerFloc Water Treatment Kit. It contains everything you’ll need to deal with large volumes of turbid water from mining, construction or stormwater runoff, and more. And if you need some advice from water filtration experts with nearly two decades of experience, call us at +1 (877) 228-2124 or mail at info@flocsystems.com.

Conclusion

If you want to get ahead of your competitors or shorten your project timeline considerably, you should always opt for flocculants. In industrial operations, the faster and more efficiently you work, the more money you generate. You should never hesitate to go for the best options.