Effects of Non-Potable Water On the Strengths of Concrete

Authors

  • A.M. Olajumoke Department of Civil Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
  • I.A. Oke Department of Civil Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
  • K.A. Olonade Department of Civil Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
  • A.A. Laoye Department of Civil Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Keywords:

Concrete, strength, stream water, suspended solid, treated wastewater

Abstract

Concrete is a composite material made from a mixture of cement, aggregates and water. This study presents the effects of non-potable water on the strengths of concrete. Tap, stream and partially polluted stream water samples were used in moulding the concrete. Optimum water-cement ratios (w/c) were determined for each of the water samples. Concrete specimens were prepared using nominal mix proportion of 1:2:4 and optimum water-cement ratio (w/c) of the known water quality. The concrete specimens were cured by total immersion in water.  Compressive and flexural strengths of the concrete were determined using standard methods. The results showed that the optimum w/c were 0.65, 0.55 and 0.65 for concrete made with tap water (A), non-polluted stream water (B) and polluted stream water (C) respectively. At 28-day curing, their compressive strengths were 18.3, 17.13 and 18.00 N/mm2 while at 56-day curing the compressive strengths were 25.60, 20.87 and 22.56 N/mm2 respectively. The pHs of the water samples (A, B, C) were 6.7, 9.5 and 6.7 respectively. The concrete made with water (A) gave the highest compressive and flexural strengths while the concrete made with water (B) gave the least strengths. It was concluded that the two stream waters (B and C) are acceptable for concrete production but concrete made with water (C) gave better results. The stream water polluted by partially treated effluent from biological treatment plant does not have serious adverse effect on the strengths of concrete.

Author Biographies

A.M. Olajumoke, Department of Civil Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Department of Civil Engineering,

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

I.A. Oke, Department of Civil Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Department of Civil Engineering,

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

K.A. Olonade, Department of Civil Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Department of Civil Engineering,

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

A.A. Laoye, Department of Civil Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Department of Civil Engineering,

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

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Published

2012-11-01

How to Cite

Olajumoke, A., Oke, I., Olonade, K., & Laoye, A. (2012). Effects of Non-Potable Water On the Strengths of Concrete. Ife Journal of Technology, 21(2), 38–42. Retrieved from https://ijt.ng/index.php/ijt/article/view/106