Mechanical Characteristics and Durability of Concrete Made with Treated Domestic Wastewater and Recycled Concrete Aggregates

Abstract

Massive amounts of fresh water and natural aggregates are annually used for concrete applications, resulting in a rapid depletion of freshwater and natural aggregate resources. This necessitates the need of replacing fresh water and natural aggregates with recyclable materials such as treated wastewater and recycled concrete aggregates (RCA). This study, therefore, investigates the mechanical characteristics and durability of three concrete mixes with different concrete mixing water types (fresh water and TWW) and coarse aggregate types (natural aggregates and RCA). Tests performed were concrete compressive and flexural tensile strengths and electrical resistivity. Test results showed that concrete with TWW recorded 6%, 7.9%, and 5.4% lower compressive strength, flexural tensile strengths, and electrical resistivity than conventional concrete, respectively. Furthermore, the combination of TWW and RCA resulted in improving the compressive strength and electrical resistivity by about 10%, whereas it increased the flexural strength by 9.2% compared to concrete mixes with TWW and natural aggregates.