Filtration followed by expression characteristics of cationic polymer conditioned clay slurries are reported for the first time in this work. As the polymer dosage increases, the resistance to filtration greatly decreases until a specific dose has been reached, where the zeta potential is close to zero. And further increase in polymer dose conversely raises the resistance. The expression data are interpreted by the Terzaghi-Voigt combined model, from which the model parameters are evaluated. The polymer conditioning has only a mild effect on the primary consolidation process but has, however, a considerable influence on secondary consolidation characteristics. When zeta potential changes from negative to positive, both the easiness of creeping of constituent particles within the sludge cake and the fraction of moisture removal by the secondary consolidation attain a maximum., The optimal polymer dose criterion considering the filtration and expression stages separately, or in combination, is (sic).