Kemira is a pioneer in comprehensive chemistry offerings for the water and wastewater markets. Providing the best-suited technology for a specific application has been at the heart of the Kemira philosophy. In water treatment, this means offering a wide range of iron and aluminum-based coagulant products, as well as polymers – combined with 100 years of application expertise and smart technologies.
Cornwall, Montreal, RIEP of Varennes, Sainte-Julie and Saint-Amable and other customers in Atlantic Provinces benefit from Aluminum Chlorohydrate (ACH), sold under the Kemira trade name of PAX-XL1900. It is the highest concentrated and most highly charged polyaluminum chloride available. ACH, as well as other PAX products, yields to lower chemical sludge production, low impact on pH and alkalinity and results in lower residual aluminum. It works also well when there are special treatment circumstances such as low pH, alkalinity and turbidity in raw water.
RIEP wanted to use only one coagulant year-round, instead of transitioning from acidified alum to polyaluminum silicate sulfate for warm and cold water conditions.
The evaluation of the chemistry at the RIEP of Varennes, Sainte-Julie and Saint-Amable drinking water plants started in July 2016 when warm water treatment began. The results were compared with the ones of the incumbent solution.
“The water quality and treatment performance were already very good. The drivers for testing Kemira PAX-XL1900 was the RIEP desire to simplify the drinking water treatment process and operation by using only one coagulant year-round, instead of transitioning from acidified alum to polyaluminum silicate sulfate for warm and cold water conditions respectively,” says Catherine Brosseau, Account Manager, Water, North America at Kemira.
The customer also sought to maintain the good water quality while implementing fewer chemicals, specifically to reduce the consumption of lime, and therefore adjusting the pH of the finished water to prevent corrosion in the distribution system. Kemira PAX-XL1900 performed as designed. It has a great fit with the customer’s water and the water quality continues to be consistently good.
