UTILIZATION OF UNDER WATER TREATMENT PLANT SLUDGE IN CERAMIC BRICK

Abstract

A large quantity of sludge is generated each year from water treatment plants in India.Disposing the sludge to the nearest watercourse is the common practice in India, which accumulatively rise the aluminum concentrations in water and consequently in human bodies. This practice has been linked to occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease. Landfill disposal of the sludge is impractical because of the high cost of transportation and depletes the capacity of the landfill. The use of sludge in construction industry is considered to be the most economic and environmentally sound option. Due to the similar mineralogical composition of clay and water treatment plant sludge, this study focused on the reuse of sludge in clay-brick production. The study investigated the use of sludge as partial substitute for clay in brick manufacturing. In this study, different series of sludge and clay proportioning ratios were studied, which exclusively involved the addition of sludge and 0-50% of the total weight of sludge-clay mixture. Each series involved the firing of bricks at 900,950 and 1000 ˚C giving different brick types. The physical properties of the produced bricks were then determined and evaluated according to Indian Standard Specifications from the obtained results.