Water Treatment · Specify / Buy

Water Treatment Chemical Strength, Grade and Documentation

The commonest procurement error in water treatment is comparing price per kilogram across products quoted on different bases. Normalise first: active content, the basis it is quoted on, and for solutions the density. Then verify the documents that make the number contractual rather than conversational.

This page states no active content, no density and no price for any product. Every number in an example below is hypothetical and marked as such. The real values come only from the TDS or CoA of the exact product being offered to you.

Buyer checklist — before you accept a quote

Tick as you verify. 0 of 10 confirmed. Nothing is stored or sent.

Price per kg of product is not price per kg of active

The concept, shown with invented numbers so the method is unambiguous.

ILLUSTRATIVE ARITHMETIC — the numbers below are invented to show the method. They are not Allzone prices, not real product strengths, and must never be reused as inputs.

Hypothetical offer	Active % (invented)	Price / kg product (invented units)	Cost / kg active
Hypothetical Offer A	40%	1.00	2.50
Hypothetical Offer B	25%	0.70	2.80

Cost per kg of active = price per kg of product ÷ (active % ÷ 100). Where the product is priced by litre, convert to mass first using the documented density: price per kg = price per litre ÷ density in kg/L.

The cheaper product per kilogram is not automatically the cheaper purchase, and the comparison is still incomplete until freight per kilogram of active, storage, handling and any dilution work on site are added.

Strength terminology — and what each term is NOT

These terms are not interchangeable. Where a supplier's wording is ambiguous, get the basis confirmed in writing.

Term	What it means	Not the same as
Active %	The fraction of the delivered product that is the chemically functional species, however that supplier defines the active species.	Purity. A 100% pure salt can still be only part active if the active is defined as a different species — for example an acid expressed as its acid form versus its salt form.
Concentration %	A stated proportion of a named component. Only meaningful once you know whether it is by weight, by volume, or weight-per-volume.	Active %. A concentration can refer to a raw material in the formulation rather than to the functional active.
Dry basis	The value expressed as if all water had been removed.	As-supplied basis. A dry-basis figure on a wet product overstates what arrives in the drum.
Wet / solution basis	The value as it exists in the solution actually delivered.	Dry basis. Converting between them requires the moisture or solids content, which must be documented.
As-supplied basis	The value per kilogram or litre of the product as it arrives — the basis your purchase order and your feed pump actually see.	Active basis. This is the single most common source of non-comparable quotes.
Active basis	The value per kilogram of active material, independent of how it is diluted or packaged.	As-supplied basis. Comparing quotes requires converting both to this basis first.
Purity / assay	How much of the stated substance the material actually contains, usually against a defined analytical method.	Grade. Two materials at the same assay can carry very different impurity profiles and very different approvals.
Density / specific gravity	Mass per unit volume (or the ratio to water). Required whenever a product is bought, stored or dosed by volume but specified by mass.	Concentration. Density varies with temperature and with the exact formulation; the temperature at which it was measured matters.
Liquid versus dry product	The same chemistry supplied in two forms. Each carries different logistics, storage, handling and make-down requirements.	An equivalent purchase. Freight, storage volume, dissolving equipment and shelf-life all differ.
Dilution	Reducing strength before use, whether at the plant or already at the supplier.	A saving. A cheaper diluted product can cost more per kilogram of active and always costs more per kilogram of freight.

How strength is quoted, by family

Conventions only. No value is stated for any product — read the document for the exact material offered.

Aluminium coagulants
Commonly quoted as an aluminium-oxide content and, for pre-hydrolysed products, a basicity figure. Suppliers may also quote a raw product percentage.
Trap: An aluminium-oxide basis and a product-percentage basis are different numbers for the same drum.
Iron coagulants
Usually quoted as a percentage of the iron salt in solution; some documents quote the iron content instead.
Trap: A salt percentage and a metal percentage are not interchangeable.
Hypochlorite oxidants
Quoted either as percent available chlorine or as a trade percentage, and the two conventions differ; solids and solutions are quoted differently again.
Trap: Hypochlorite strength also decays with time and temperature, so the value on the CoA is a value at a date, not a permanent property.
Phosphonates and scale inhibitors
Quoted as an active acid content, and formulated blends are quoted as total actives across more than one component.
Trap: A blend's total actives figure does not tell you how much of the specific inhibitor you were expecting is present.
Polymer flocculants
Dry products and emulsion products are quoted on different active-polymer bases; emulsions include carrier oil and surfactant.
Trap: Comparing an emulsion price against a dry-polymer price without normalising active polymer is meaningless.
Alkalis and acids
Quoted as a solution percentage, with density needed for any volume-based calculation.
Trap: Density changes with concentration and temperature; a single generic density will mis-size a feed pump.

Documentation — what each document does and does not establish

Classified by why you would ask for it. Not every chemical legally requires every document.

COMMONLY REQUESTED

Product specification
Establishes: The agreed properties and tolerances the supplier undertakes to deliver against, which is what a delivery can be accepted or rejected on.
Does not establish: It does not report what any particular batch contained, and it is not a regulatory approval.
Packaging, net weight and delivery configuration
Establishes: What actually arrives, which drives handling, storage footprint and the true landed comparison between two offers.
Does not establish: Nothing about strength, quality or suitability.

TECHNICALLY IMPORTANT

Technical data sheet / product information
Establishes: The typical properties, form, basis conventions, handling and application guidance the manufacturer publishes for the product.
Does not establish: A TDS proves nothing about legal compliance, and typical values are not guaranteed values. It is not a batch record.
Physical form and particle or solution description
Establishes: Whether the product can be handled by your existing make-down, storage and feed equipment at all.
Does not establish: Form is not performance and not strength.
Batch / lot identification and date
Establishes: Traceability between the delivered material, its CoA and any later investigation.
Does not establish: A lot number alone confirms no property of the material.
Storage conditions and shelf life
Establishes: How long, and under what conditions, the documented properties can be expected to hold — critical for products whose strength decays.
Does not establish: A shelf-life statement does not guarantee strength at the point of use if storage conditions were not met.

CALCULATION-DEPENDENT

Certificate of analysis (CoA)
Establishes: The results actually measured on the identified batch, for the parameters the supplier tested, by the methods stated.
Does not establish: A CoA proves nothing about universal suitability, says nothing about parameters it did not test, and does not apply to any other batch.
Active concentration / assay statement
Establishes: The strength figure a dosing calculation and a cost-per-active comparison depend on — provided the basis is stated alongside it.
Does not establish: A number without a stated basis establishes nothing usable. Never carry an unlabelled percentage into a calculation.
Density / specific gravity at a stated temperature
Establishes: The conversion between mass and volume needed whenever the product is dosed, stored or priced by volume.
Does not establish: It says nothing about strength. Two solutions of similar density can differ substantially in active content.

APPLICATION-DEPENDENT

Manufacturing site and origin information
Establishes: Which manufacturing location the material came from — which matters because certifications and approvals are usually site-specific.
Does not establish: Origin is not quality, and a certified manufacturer does not make every one of its sites or grades certified.

REGULATORY / JURISDICTION-DEPENDENT

Safety data sheet (SDS)
Establishes: Hazard communication for a hazardous product supplied to a workplace — hazards, handling, storage, protective measures and emergency response, under the applicable jurisdiction's requirements.
Does not establish: An SDS is not a quality document. It does not confirm active content for dosing, it does not confirm the product meets your specification, and its presence is not a certification.
Certification and declarations (e.g. potable-water certification listings)
Establishes: That a specific product from a specific manufacturing location has been certified to a named standard, at a stated maximum use level, as shown in the certifier's public listing.
Does not establish: Certification never extends from one grade to another, from one site to another, or from a material family to a product. It is not a performance claim and it does not discharge your own regulatory obligations.

Where these values get used

A dose calculation converts a validated mg/L dose into an as-supplied product quantity, and that conversion needs the correct active content and, for a solution priced or dosed by volume, the correct density. Those two values are procurement facts, not defaults. The calculator will not invent them and neither will this page.

Ask for the basis in writing before a purchase order is issued. A percentage without a stated basis, and a density without a stated temperature, are both unusable in a calculation and unenforceable in a contract.

Use this when

You have two or more quotes for what looks like the same chemical and the prices differ more than they should.
A dosing calculation is being built and you need to know which strength figure to use.
You are writing a specification and need to state grade, basis and required documentation properly.

How this decision is structured

Step one: identify the quoted basis for that family — percent active acid, percent available chlorine, Al2O3 content, basicity, active polymer content, dry or as-supplied.
Step two: normalise to cost per kilogram of active, using density where the product is priced or dosed by volume.
Step three: separate what is technically important from what is regulatory. Documents are classified COMMONLY REQUESTED · TECHNICALLY IMPORTANT · APPLICATION-DEPENDENT · REGULATORY / JURISDICTION-DEPENDENT.

What this page does not determine

It states no active content, density or specification for any product. Those come from the specific TDS or CoA of the product offered.
It does not state that every water treatment product legally requires every document. Requirements are application- and jurisdiction-dependent.
It does not imply NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 or 61 certification for any product. Certification is product- and site-specific and must be verified in the certifier's listing.
It does not establish regulatory compliance for a treatment system or a discharge.

Relevant Allzone products

These are catalogue identities relevant to this decision. A listing here is not a statement that the material is suitable for your system, and it is not a certification, performance or drinking-water claim.

Ask for a quotation or a specification

Where this comes from, and what it cannot tell you

Product technical literature conventions across water-treatment chemical families (PAC basicity and Al2O3 content, hypochlorite trade percent vs percent available chlorine, alum Al2O3 basis, phosphonate active acid content, polymer active polymer content)
Supports: That the same chemical family is quoted on different bases by different suppliers, and that a price per kilogram is only comparable after normalising to active content and, for solutions, to solution density.
Limitation: Conventions vary by supplier and by region. The basis must be read from the specific TDS or CoA; it must never be assumed.
Manufacturer documentation — international · Always read the document for the specific product offered.
Canadian workplace chemical documentation requirements (WHMIS 2015 / Hazardous Products Regulations for safety data sheets) and standard commercial quality-documentation practice (certificate of analysis, technical data sheet)
Supports: That a safety data sheet is a regulated hazard-communication document for hazardous products supplied to a workplace, whereas a certificate of analysis and a technical data sheet are commercial quality documents that record batch results and product specification respectively.
Limitation: SDS obligations are hazard-based and jurisdiction-specific. CoA and TDS content is not standardised by regulation; what a CoA reports is a contractual matter agreed between buyer and supplier.
Canada — WHMIS 2015; commercial practice otherwise · Verify current requirements; SDS must be kept current by the supplier.
NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 — Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals — Health Effects
Supports: That drinking-water treatment chemicals are commonly required to be certified to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60, and that certification applies to a specific product from a specific manufacturing location, with a stated maximum use level.
Limitation: Certification is product- and site-specific and must be verified in the certifier's public listing. A chemical name being 'used in water treatment' establishes nothing about certification.
North America — required by many Canadian and US authorities for potable duty · Listings change; always verify the current listing.
NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 — Drinking Water System Components — Health Effects
Supports: That materials and media in contact with drinking water, including filter and adsorbent media, are commonly required to be certified under NSF/ANSI/CAN 61.
Limitation: Applies to the specific product and manufacturing location listed. Not a performance claim and not a statement of contaminant removal.
North America · Verify the current listing.
Health Canada — Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (and the associated guideline technical documents)
Supports: That Canadian drinking-water quality expectations are expressed as national guidelines, which provinces and territories adopt and enforce in their own regulations.
Limitation: Guidelines are not self-executing law. The binding requirement for a specific system is the provincial or territorial regulation and the system's own approval. Nothing on this page grants or evidences compliance.
Canada — federal guidance, provincial enforcement · Guideline documents are revised periodically.