Human Sewage Finds New Purpose In Building Materials
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
Human sewage may literally become the building block of the future.
Researchers at Universiti Teknologi MARA in Malaysia are experimenting with a new way to recycle human waste, using it as an ingredient in concrete. They published their findings in Pertanika Journal of Science and Technology.
Their process entailed mixing processed sewage sludge with concrete. The researchers “burnt wet sludge cake to remove moisture, and then ground and sieved the dried sludge cake to make domestic waste sludge powder,” according to an update about the project published by Science Daily.
The researchers varied the level of sludge powder they used in the concrete, making it 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15 percent of the mixture. They compared it to normal concrete, testing compressive strength, water absorption, water permeability, and permeability to salt.
The researchers found that sludge powder has a “potential role” in the concrete-making process, according to the update. It was most effective at lower concentrations.
“The compressive strengths of [sludge powder] concrete generally decreased as the proportion of [sludge powder] increased in concrete mix. Also, both water absorption and water permeability increased as the percentage of [sludge powder] increased,” the update said.
The researchers said in the study: "Overall, there is potential for using [sludge powder] as a partial cement replacement. However, more detailed research should be conducted to yield better quality powder."
The team plans to tweak its concrete recipe as it moves ahead.
“The team hypothesizes that a higher-temp incinerator may produce a better quality of powder and are executing a number of tests along these lines. The researchers are hoping to further improve production methods and increase the performance of this recycled sewage in order to make it a more viable and sustainable material for commercial construction,” Curbed reported.
For similar stories visit Water Online’s Sludge And Biosolids Processing Solutions Center.