EFFECT OF HEAVY METALS PRESENT IN MIXING WATER ON THE PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE

Abstract

Cement concrete is one of the most widely used material in the construction field. For producing good
cement concrete, it is necessary to use selected ingredients like cement, aggregate and water. One of the major
challenges of the present society is the protection of environment. Some of the important elements in this respect are the
reduction in the consumption of energy, natural materials and consumption of waste materials. Nowadays these are
getting considerable attention under sustainable development. Due to growing population and rapid industrialization,
there is a concomitant increase in waste water volume which is contaminated with various constituents i.e., organic,
inorganic and biological substances. Industrial sector is one of the major water consuming areas. Because of rapid
growth of industries, fresh water resources have been drastically diminishing day to day.Electroplating industry in India
is spread throughout the country. Metals used for plating are heavy metals like Nickel, Copper, Lead, Cadmium, Zinc,
Iron, Platinum, Mercury, Silver, Chromium etc. It has been noted that out of the total amount of these metals used in
electroplating, 4% goes as waste in sludge spent wash, electroplating solutions etc. If these waters are used for farming,
drinking etc., it may give detrimental effect. Hence, use of these waters has to be thoroughly examined for the purpose
where its effect is not hazardous. Cement concrete industry is one such areas, which requires lot of water. Concrete is
one of the highly consumable product in now a days. Experimental studies are carried out in the present investigation to
check the suitability of industrial waste water containing certain heavy metalslike Cadmium, Zinc and Ironon
compressive strength development, split tensile strength, flexural strength and assessing the durability against acidic and
alkaline attack. The results obtained yields insignificant variation in compressive strength, split tensile and flexural
strength and durability when compared to reference concrete made of de-ionized water.