Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Recent drought events in Brazil, in addition to the irregular distribution of fresh water along the country, shows the importance of saving this natural resource. The construction industry represents about 20% of Brazil’s wealth - and concrete is the most important material of this branch of activity. Since water is an essential input of concrete, it is important to study sustainable alternatives to substitute fresh water. In this case, wastewater reuse shows up as a good option as soon as sewage plants treat sanitary effluents, returning it to the nature with a great level of refinement. This study presents statistics of water and concrete production of Brazil, correlating the water consumption and its costs at different regions of the country. Furthermore, the effect of the use of wastewater effluent from a sewage treatment plant in the cement hydration kinetics was analyzed. To reach this goal, the wastewater characterization, also vicat test, isothermal calorimetry, and ultrasonic pulse in cement pastes were reviewed. Wastewater characterization indicates a high quality level. Also small variations in the kinetics behavior were observed in both matrix, with wastewater and potable water. This ratifies international studies on this theme, which indicates a good applicability for this type of water in concrete production.