Development of Construction Material Using Wastewater: An Application of Circular Economy for Mass Production of Bricks

Abstract

Water is one of the necessary ingredients for construction materials. Billions of gallons of clean water are wasted during the development of fired clay bricks. Similarly, the waste of clean water is a global issue. In this study, we develop fired clay bricks with the help of wastewater for the first time and compare these with clay bricks produced using groundwater, which is the conventional method. Both destructive (i.e., compressive strength (CS)) and non-destructive (i.e., ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV)) tests are conducted on all fired clay brick specimens as per the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Physical (i.e., dimensions) and durability (water absorption, efflorescence, etc.) tests are also conducted. All kinds of brick satisfied the standard requirements of physical and durability characteristics. Similar or better strength of bricks were achieved using wastewater. The study concludes that the testing results of wastewater bricks were significantly 15–25% higher compared with groundwater-fired clay bricks. A large amount of wastewater can be used to develop bricks, and clean water can be saved to attain circular economy goals. Therefore, this study will help not only in developing low-cost bricks but also in saving clean water.

Conservation Environments’ Effect on the Compressive Strength Behaviour of Wood–Concrete Composites

“…The building industry is responsible for around a quarter of all CO 2 emissions [ 3 ], not to mention the loss of non-renewable resources [ 4 ]. As a result, the building industry must innovate to ensure customer satisfaction, while also being environmentally sustainable, hence the interest in creating an eco-construction technique [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. This unique design technique strives to produce pleasant structures at a reduced environmental cost by using more efficient materials [ 8 ].…”