Canadian supplier of PAC coagulants certified to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60, plus PAM flocculants for municipal and industrial water treatment — stocked in British Columbia, shipped Canada-wide, supported by engineers.
Drinking water grades certified to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60, verified by SGS laboratory testing. Documentation on request.
Owned and operated in North Vancouver, BC. Inventory on Canadian ground — no ocean lead times — shipping Canada-wide.
Founded by a process engineer. Grade recommendations come with dosing math, materials guidance, and reasoning shown.
Sample kits ship from BC stock with the jar-test protocol included — prove the chemistry on your water before you commit.
Every delivery ships with its batch Certificate of Analysis, backed by SGS testing — the paper trail your auditor expects.
We prepare custom-strength liquid PAC ourselves — matched to your metering range, not the other way around.
Technical enquiries get technical replies — typically within one business day, from people who can read your water analysis.
Start with a free sample kit and a jar test on your own raw water.
Request a sample →Dashed tiles are placeholders for your own photography — shot list: warehouse racking with bagged product, FIBC and IBC stock, loading/dispatch, jar-test bench, sample kits. Swap each tile's placeholder for the real image and delete this note.
Coagulation and flocculation work as a pair. We supply both — matched grades, matched support, one order.
CoagulantHigh-basicity aluminium coagulant that destabilizes suspended solids, colloids, and colour across a wide pH range — with lower dose rates and less sludge than alum.
FlocculantPolymer flocculants graded by molecular weight and charge density — eleven grades across anionic, cationic, non-ionic, and liquid-emulsion chemistry, for clarifier performance, sludge dewatering, and solids capture.
Buyers start with a process problem, not a chemical name. Pick your application — each one leads to the grades, typical objectives, and resources that fit.
The chemistry is half the job. Injection points, metering ranges, wetted materials, make-down, and day tanks are the other half — and we support all of it. Click any stage to jump to the products or guides behind it.
Tools and plain-language guides for operators and engineers — free, practical, and specific to Canadian treatment conditions.
Source, analysis, seasonality, current treatment.
Turbidity target, permit limits, budget, constraints.
Grade, starting dose, and the reasoning behind both.
Free kit from BC stock, protocol included.
Send us the numbers — we help interpret them.
Trim at full scale with settled-water data.
Scheduled deliveries, batch COAs, support that stays.
Send your water analysis or current setup. You'll get a grade recommendation, a starting dose, and a sample to prove it — not just a price.
Each application below opens a focused page: the treatment challenges, the grades we recommend for them, and the tools to size your program.
Core grades are stocked in British Columbia and every grade is supported in Canada; less-common grades are supplied through our program — confirm lead times at quotation. Powder drinking water grades are certified to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 and verified by SGS laboratory testing.
| Grade | Application | Appearance | Certification | Packaging | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PositivePAC D01 | Drinking water treatment | White powder | NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 | 25 kg bags · 500/1,000 kg FIBC | TDS → |
| PositivePAC D02 | Drinking water treatment | Light yellow powder | NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 | 25 kg bags · 500/1,000 kg FIBC | TDS → |
| PositivePAC I03 | Industrial & wastewater | Yellow powder | Industrial grade | 25 kg bags · 500/1,000 kg FIBC | TDS → |
Core PAM grades are stocked locally; less-common grades in the matrix are supplied to order — confirm availability and lead time when requesting a quote. PositivePAM grades serve industrial and wastewater duty; for potable dosing, NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 certified polymer grades are arranged on request. Click any grade name for its dedicated product page. Grade selection depends on raw water chemistry, temperature, and treatment objectives. Not sure? Use the Chemical Selector or ask an engineer.
The range grows with our customers. Specialty water-soluble polymers — including friction reducers and PHPA-type high-viscosity polymers — and allied treatment chemicals can be sourced, quality-assured, and supplied through the same program: SGS-backed documentation, BC stock, Canada-wide shipping.
Practical, plain-language, and free. Built for operators, consulting engineers, and anyone specifying coagulation chemistry in Canada.
Real technical questions get real technical answers — usually within one business day.
Three questions, one recommendation — with the reasoning shown. Confirm with a jar test before full-scale dosing.
The selector narrows the field; the jar test makes the decision. Every recommendation should be confirmed on your actual raw water — the sample kit includes the protocol.
Enter your plant flow and target dose to estimate daily, monthly, and annual chemical demand — and the packaging format that fits it.
This estimator sizes supply, not treatment. The optimal dose comes from jar testing on your actual raw water — see the Jar Test Guide.
Coagulants consume alkalinity as they hydrolyze. Pre-hydrolyzed PAC consumes far less than alum — this tool shows roughly how much, and why it matters for pH stability and lime/caustic costs.
Rule-of-thumb basis: alum consumes roughly 0.5 mg/L alkalinity (as CaCO₃) per mg/L of alum dosed; pre-hydrolyzed PAC consumes proportionally less as basicity rises. Figures are planning estimates — confirm with bench testing on your water.
Basicity describes how far the aluminium in a coagulant has already been hydrolyzed during manufacture — how much of the acid-generating reaction has been done in the factory instead of in your water. Alum arrives with 0% of that work done; a high-basicity PAC arrives with most of it done.
The practical consequences: less alkalinity consumed per dose, smaller pH depression, better performance in cold and soft water, and less (or no) supplemental lime or caustic to hold pH in range. In low-alkalinity Canadian surface waters, that difference is often the whole argument for PAC.
Every dosing question — which grade, what dose, what pH, in what order — is answered faster and cheaper on the bench than in the plant. Here's the standard procedure.
The winning bench dose is the starting point for full-scale trials, not the final answer — full-scale mixing is never identical to a gang stirrer. Start the plant at the jar-test optimum, then trim by watching settled-water turbidity and filter performance.
Not sure which doses to ladder? The Jar-Test Planner builds the bracket from your raw-water numbers. Our sample kits ship with this protocol and enough product for a complete dose ladder. If you send us your jar-test numbers, we'll help interpret them.
Aluminium sulfate has treated water for over a century, and it still works. Polyaluminium chloride is its pre-hydrolyzed successor. Here's how they compare where it matters — on the plant floor.
| Factor | Alum (aluminium sulfate) | PAC (polyaluminium chloride) |
|---|---|---|
| Dose rate | Higher doses typically needed for the same water | Typically lower dose for equivalent clarification |
| Cold-water performance | Slows noticeably in cold water — floc forms poorly below ~10 °C | Markedly better floc formation in cold water — a real advantage in Canadian winters |
| Alkalinity consumption | High — roughly 0.5 mg/L as CaCO₃ consumed per mg/L dosed; often needs lime or caustic alongside | Much lower — pre-hydrolyzed, so most of the acid demand is already satisfied |
| Effective pH range | Narrow optimum, roughly pH 5.8–7.2 | Wider working range, roughly pH 5–9 |
| Sludge production | More voluminous, wetter sludge | Less sludge volume for the same duty |
| Residual aluminium | Higher risk if dose/pH drift | Typically lower residual Al at optimized dose |
| Price per tonne | Lower unit price | Higher unit price — usually offset by lower dose, less pH correction, and less sludge handling |
Alum wins on sticker price. PAC usually wins on total treatment cost — dose, alkalinity chemicals, sludge disposal, and cold-season stability all move in its favour, and the gap widens in soft, cold, low-alkalinity waters like most of British Columbia's.
The way to settle it for your plant is not this table — it's a side-by-side jar test on your raw water. We'll supply the PAC sample; run it against your current alum dose and compare settled turbidity, pH depression, and floc quality.
Same chemistry, different logistics. The right form depends on your plant's size, equipment, and distance from supply — here's how to decide.
| Factor | Powder PAC | Liquid PAC (10–12% Al₂O₃) |
|---|---|---|
| Active content | High — around 28–30% Al₂O₃, so each tonne carries roughly 2.5–3× the active aluminium of liquid | 10–12% Al₂O₃ as standard; custom concentrations on request |
| Freight economics | Far less water shipped — favourable for remote sites and long hauls | Heavier per unit of active — best within reasonable trucking distance |
| Dosing setup | Requires a make-down system: mixing tank, dissolver, transfer pump | Doses directly with a metering pump — simplest possible setup |
| Labour & handling | Bag handling and batch preparation; dust control needed | Closed transfer from drum or IBC; minimal operator contact |
| Small plants & seasonal use | Batching flexibility suits intermittent operation | Turn the pump on — well suited to small and package plants |
| Packaging | 25 kg bags · 500/1,000 kg FIBC | 20 L jerricans · 208 L drums · 1,000 L IBC totes |
Choose powder when freight distance is long, volumes are large, or you already have make-down equipment. Choose liquid when simplicity wins — smaller plants, package systems, tight labour, or anywhere a metering pump straight from an IBC beats running a dissolver.
We stock both forms in the same certified grades, and we prepare custom-concentration liquid PAC in-house — so switching forms never means switching chemistry.
Good storage practice keeps product in specification and operators safe. The essentials, by product form.
The vocabulary of coagulation and clarification, in plain language.
PositiveChem is the water treatment chemicals division of Positive Trade, an industrial solutions company based in North Vancouver, British Columbia. We supply certified coagulants and flocculants to municipal and industrial water treatment operations across Canada.
We built this brand around a simple observation: treatment plants don't just buy chemicals — they buy certainty. Certainty that the grade is right for their water, that every batch matches the last one, that documentation arrives when the auditor asks, and that stock is on the ground when the plant needs it.
That's why our drinking water grades carry NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 certification with SGS laboratory verification, why we keep inventory in British Columbia rather than quoting ocean lead times, and why every enquiry gets a technical answer — a grade, a starting dose, and a sample to prove it — rather than just a price.
It's also why this site is half resource centre: the selector, the calculators, the guides, and the glossary exist because informed customers make better treatment decisions — and because we think a supplier should earn its place with knowledge, not just logistics.
[EDIT: Founder name] leads PositiveChem after [EDIT: XX] years of process engineering — spanning offshore chemical injection packages, metering and dosing systems, industrial pumps, and process package design.
That background changes what a chemical supplier can do for you. Coagulant questions rarely stop at the drum: they run into metering pump ranges, wetted materials, day-tank sizing, make-down practice, and how the dosing point actually behaves at your flow. We answer those questions because we've engineered those systems — not just sold into them.
It's also why our support looks the way it does: jar-test protocols with every sample kit, dosing calculations shown rather than asserted, and recommendations that come with reasoning attached.
Quotes, samples, documentation, or a second opinion on your current treatment — we answer with specifics.
Positive Trade
#202 – 930 Harbourside Drive
North Vancouver, BC V7P 3S7, Canada
+1 604 753 8812
sales@positivetrade.ca
Your flow rate, water source, current chemical and dose (if any), and what you're trying to improve. A recent water analysis helps us go straight to a grade recommendation.
Full typical-properties data — including detailed chemical parameters per grade — is provided on the Technical Data Sheet.
Grade-specific documents on request; batch COA ships with every order.
Dose, flow, and your unit price → treatment cost per cubic metre, per day, and per year. Use it to compare quotes and chemistries on equal footing.
Chemical cost is one line of the treatment ledger. Alkalinity correction, sludge handling, and freight complete the comparison — PAC vs Alum covers the full picture.
C₁V₁ = C₂V₂, solved for the two numbers you actually need: how much stock solution, and how much water.
Percent-by-weight vs percent-by-volume matters at high concentrations; for dilute working solutions the difference is small. When precision matters, work by weight.
Powder PAM must be dissolved into a dilute working solution before dosing. This sizes the batch.
Spilled polymer plus water is extremely slippery — clean spills dry. More in Storage & Handling.
How big should the tank be? Daily consumption times days of autonomy, plus freeboard — sized here.
For liquid PAC, tank and fittings must be HDPE, FRP, or rubber-lined — never mild steel. Materials guidance in Storage & Handling.
Print, run the ladder, keep the data. Pairs with the Jar Test Guide.
| Parameter | Jar 1 | Jar 2 | Jar 3 | Jar 4 | Jar 5 | Jar 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dose (mg/L) | ||||||
| Flocculant aid (mg/L) | ||||||
| Rapid mix (rpm × min) | ||||||
| Slow mix (rpm × min) | ||||||
| Settling time (min) | ||||||
| First visible floc (min) | ||||||
| Floc size / quality | ||||||
| Settled turbidity (NTU) | ||||||
| Final pH | ||||||
| Notes |
Floc quality shorthand: 0 = none · 1 = pin floc · 2 = small · 3 = medium · 4 = large, well-formed · 5 = large & dense, fast settling. Send completed sheets to sales@positivetrade.ca for interpretation support.
Enter your raw-water numbers and get a bench plan: the dose ladder to run, the flags to watch, and the alkalinity math — brackets to test, not predictions. The bench decides the optimum.
Procedure, mixing speeds, and how to read floc: the Jar Test Guide. Record results on the printable record sheet — and send them to us for interpretation.
Representative treatment programs across the industries we serve.
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