Abstract:
The aim of the study is to investigate the potential use of water treatment
sludge in brick properties as building material. The sludge was collected from
water treatment plant and the percentages used in the mixes were 3%, 5%, 7%,
10% 15%, 20%, 40%, and 60% by weight of sand in brick. The specimen
without sludge was prepared for comparison. The testing involved chemical
analysis of sludges using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF)
technique. Testing of compressive strength was done for hardened state
properties. The samples were cured at 7 and 28 days, and the average of three
samples of brick samples was measured. The results revealed that the waste
sludges had higher components of Zn, Cu, Pb, and As, which was trace
element concentrations in the dry sludge samples. Comparisons in terms of
strength were made from the control and brick containing sludge specimens. It
was observed that sludge in brick performed better when mixed with 5% as
partial replacement of sand. However, the more the addition of percentages of
sludge in brick, the lesser the strength observed. It can be concluded that waste
treatment sludge as a result from the process of water treatment can be utilized
as partial replacement of sand in brick production.
