Abstract: An economical process for treating the acidic pond water to be used in the internal grinding circuit of a wet process phosphoric acid plant. Water is added to a quantity of a hydratable calcium compound, such as quicklime, to form a slaked lime slurry. A sufficient quantity of the slaked lime slurry is reacted with the acidic pond water to obtain a low fluoride solution having a fluoride content less than about 300 ppm and a pH in the range from about 2.0 to about 3.0, preferentially in the range 2.6-2.8, whereby calcium fluoride is precipitated. The precipitate bearing low fluoride solution is then clarified and the precipitate removed as underflow from the clarifier and transferred to the gypsum pond. In the preferred embodiment, the clarified low fluoride water is fed to the ball mill and is mixed with the phosphate rock being crushed.