Production of paper

A process for making paper at a paper mill comprising continuously forming an aqueous anionic cellulosic suspension from cellulosic pulp, recycled white water and added water which is supplied to the mill,

• adding to the suspension a polymeric retention aid having an IV of at least 6 dl/g to form flocs,
• shearing the suspension to break down the flocs to form microflocs,
• aggregating the microflocs by adding to the suspension an anionic particulate material,
• draining the suspension to form a sheet and white water which drains through the screen,
• recycling the white water to form the suspension,
• drying the sheet, wherein
• the polymeric retention aid is a water soluble polymer selected from the group consisting of non-ionic polymers of non-ionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer, copolymers of non-ionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer with cationic ethylenically unsaturated monomer in an amount of less than 2 mole percent, copolymers of non-ionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer with anionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer in an amount of less than 10 mole percent, copolymers of non-ionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer with anionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer in an amount of less than 10 mole percent and cationic ethylenically unsaturated monomer in an amount of less than 2 mole percent, and polyethylene oxide, and
• the white water is anionic and has a conductivity of at least 1500 microsiemens, and
• the amount of added water supplied to the mill is less than 30 tons per ton dry weight of paper.