Abstract: Disclosed herein are a process and apparatus for electrolytically removing suspended and dissolved impurities from contaminated water. By the process of the invention, contaminated water is fed to a column where it is exposed to an electrical field created between a plurality of oppositely charged perforate plates by a pulsating electrical signal. The pulsating signal causes cations to be freed from the plates and destroys bacteria and cyanide where present. The process causes a micro-floc to form which grows by a chaining process into a large, easily separable floc which adsorbs essentially all of the suspended matter in the contaminated water including soil and other particles of colloidal size, dead bacteria, and precipitated metal salts, as well as some metal ions.