Feasibility of Water Containing Metal Ions as Mixing Water in Cement Mortar

Most of the world’s water is saline and is contained in the oceans. Only about 2% of it is fresh of which 97% is tied up in the polar caps in the form of permanent snow and in deep depths below the ground. Scarcity of potable water for the construction is the main reason to look for alternate source of water. Industrial waste water is potential alternate for construction industry. Recycling and reuse of wastewater may be practiced for sustainable development of construction industry. In this connection, the present experimental studies are intended to investigate the effect of metals present in waste water of bullion industry on the properties of cement mortar. The paper reports the effect of Cucl2, Zncl2, Nicl2, Ascl3, and Cdcl2 on the physical properties of cement mortar. Series of mortar specimens are cast of which the control specimens are cast with OPC. Five Combinations of mortar cubes are cast of which the first combination cubes consist of metals in concentrations specified for treated effluent of bullion industry. Combination-II, III, IV and V mortars are cast with concentrations of metals increased by 50 times, 100 times, 200 times and 400 times respectively than that of I-combination. Physical properties such as setting times, soundness, compressive strength, and durability are studied and reported in this paper. So, treated effluent of bullion industry with presence of above metals with concentrations even up to 100 times than specified can be used as mixing water in cement mortar. Keywords— Concrete, mixing water of concrete, treated effluent, % replacements.