The coagulation & flocculation processes achieve a very similar end result, but are unique in their own right. Coagulation is the chemical process of adding chemical coagulants to water and employing rapid mixing and slow mixing to disperse the chemicals throughout the water, neutralizing the charges of suspended particles and encouraging them to clump together. Flocculation is a physical process involving adding agents, called flocculants, that further encourage particles to bind together, promoting clumping of the particles that were neutralized by coagulation.