Beneficial Use of Water Treatment Sludge in Geotechnical Applications as a Sustainable Alternative to Preserve Natural Soils

Maria E. G. Boscov, Juliana K. Tsugawa and Edy L. T. Montalvan
Additional contact information
Maria E. G. Boscov: Structural and Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 05508-970, Brazil
Juliana K. Tsugawa: Structural and Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 05508-970, Brazil
Edy L. T. Montalvan: Structural and Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 05508-970, Brazil

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 17, 1-26

Abstract: This paper explores the feasibility of employing drinking water treatment sludge (WTS) mixed with soils, lime, or rock powder in geotechnical applications, as well as discusses the sustainability of the approach based on experimental results, aiming at the beneficial reuse of waste and the preservation of natural geomaterials. The selected materials were two soils largely used in earthworks, two WTSs, a high purity calcium hydrated lime, and rock powder from a granitic–gneissic quarry, all occurring in São Paulo State, Brazil. The mixtures were chemically, mineralogically, and geotechnically characterized, and the geotechnical properties permeability, shear strength, and deformability were investigated. Soil-WTS mixtures showed hydraulic conductivity (10 −10 –10 −6 m/s, depending on soil and WTS), effective cohesion (10–30 kPa), friction angle (34°–40°), undrained strength (>50 kPa), and compression index (0.1–0.4) compatible with those of soils usually employed in earthworks. Lime:WTS and rock powder:WTS mixtures achieved 50 kPa undrained strength for WTS contents lower than 24% and 8%, respectively, and could be used as daily and intermediate covers of waste landfills, as well as in other applications with low soliciting stresses. The possibility of WTS being pumped instead of transported by trucks was analyzed in the light of results from rheological tests.

Keywords: waste utilization; waste characterization; geotechnical; mechanical and hydraulic properties; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9848/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9848/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:17:p:9848-:d:627494

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().