The increase in the demand for drinking water implies in an increase in sludge production in Water Treatment Plants (WTP). Despite the fact that this residue is generated by soil erosion in upstream locations, the required chemical treatment for its removal compels to correct disposal in order not to induce negative impact on the environment. So far, the common destination for the sludge is the river courses, even though it is classified as solid residue. In this work, an alternative disposal of the humid sludge in concrete matrixes is proposed, partially replacing fine aggregates (sand) and cement, whose extraction and application also cause environmental impact. Initially, the materials used in concrete (filler-modified Portland cement, fine and coarse aggregates) were characterized, as well as the sludge obtained from Passaúna WTP, located in Curitiba's metropolitan area. For the materials research, a reference concrete (with no addition of sludge) and four concrete mixtures with sludge contents of 3, 5, 7 and 10 wt.% (replacing fine aggregate) were produced. The properties of fresh and hardened concretes, including the compressive strength, were evaluated. The sludge is composed by Si, Fe and Al compounds, and by clay minerals of kaolinite group, and its moisture content is about 87%. In compressive strength testing, the mixtures containing up to 5% of sludge presented a f c28 higher than 25 MPa. For sludge contents over 5%, f c28 was lower, especially for the concrete with 10% waste. It could be concluded that the mixtures with up to 5% sludge from WTP can be employed in applications ranging from the manufacture of concrete artifacts and bricks to the construction of Portland cement concrete floors. On the order hand, the use of more than 5% sludge in concrete is restricted to applications where the workability of concrete is not a required parameter, such as residential pavements, sidewalks and floors.
concrete; disposal; sludge from water treatment plant; characterization
