Sole use of polymeric aluminum ferric chloride (PAFC) and its combination with composite polymeric aluminum ferric chloride/poly-dimethyl-diallyl-ammonium chloride coagulant (PAFC-PDMDAAC), chlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ) and composite potassium permanganate (PPC) were tested for treating retrieved water from the Yellow river during the period of low temperature and low turbidity. Such tests were carried out under full load operation in a water plant with conventional process. Results showed that the combined use of PPC and PAFC-PDMDAAC was more effective in treating influent with low temperature and low turbidity than the other coagulants. The turbidity, oxygen consumption, total trihalomethanes (THM) and absorbable organic halogens (AOX) in the effluent were compared with effluent under the sole treatment of PAFC, reduced by 76.8%, 14.2%, 60.8% and 19.4%, respectively. The operation cost, however, was only increased by 0.024 yuan/m 3 , denoting that it is a cost-effective method.