Use of waste water from purification plants in the manufacture of concrete

Abstract

The Atacama Region presents cycles of water scarcity that affect both the population and the productive sectors, which demand huge amounts of drinking water for its development. In order to reduce the pressure on the water resource, it encourages the saving of drinking water and/or the reuse of sewage and industrial waters. In this context, the use of waste water from the brackish water purification processes is a good alternative to drinking water in the manufacture of mortars and concretes. The present study evaluates the mechanical behaviour of the concrete containing waste water generated in the processes of reverse osmosis and ion exchange. To do this, four types of water were characterized: drinking water (control), reverse osmosis waste water process used in the production of purified drinking water; waste water of both the ion exchange process and the reverse osmosis process, both from the Regional Hospital of Copiapó, Atacama, Chile. Subsequently, different samples of concrete containing the 4 types of water were manufactured and their resistance to compression at the ages of 7 and 28 days was evaluated. The results showed that in all cases, the concrete made with waste water, reached higher resistance to compression than the control sample. From this study, it can be concluded that the use of waste water in the manufacture of concrete, can be a convenient alternative for the  construction in arid zones.