Problem statement: This research reuses the water treatment sludge from a water treatment plant to make hollow concrete blocks. The main objectives are to increase the value of the water treatment sludge from a water treatment plant and to make a sustainable and profitable disposal alternative for the water treatment sludge. Attempts were made to utilize the water treatment sludge as a fine aggregate in the concrete mix for hollow concrete blocks. Approach: This study presented the results of these studies on potential applications of the water treatment sludge for beneficial uses. A concrete block is used as a building material in the construction of walls. The concrete block construction is gaining importance in developing countries. Results: The results in this study showed that the water treatment sludge mixtures can be used to produce hollow non-load bearing concrete blocks, while 10 and 20% water treatment sludge mixtures can be used to produce the hollow load bearing concrete blocks. Economically, the 10 and 20% water treatment sludge mixtures can reduce the cost at 0.64 and 1.05 Thai baht per block, respectively. The 50% of water treatment sludge ratio in mixture to make a hollow non-load bearing concrete block can reduce the maximum cost at 2.35 baht per block. Conclusion: Finally, the production of the hollow concrete blocks mixed with water treatment sludge use as a fine aggregate in hollow concrete blocks, could be a profitable disposal alternative in the future and would be of the highest value possible for the foreseeable future.
The wastewater from agro-industry treated with the biological treatment cannot produce the biogas because of its low COD level and its low organic content. In this research, the co-digestion with decanter cake will improve the biogas yield and biogas production of wastewater. The effect of three parameters (i.e., type of wastewater, mixing and mesophilic temperature) will be evaluated in batch digesters under anaerobic condition. Moreover, the study determines the biogas production potential of several mixtures and that of wastewater alone. The co-digestion of decanter cake with rubber block wastewater of the R4 (wastewater 200 ml with decanter cake 8 g) produces the highest biogas yield 3,809 mL CH 4 /g COD removal and the percentage maximum methane gas is 66.7%. The experimental result shows that the mixing and mesophilic temperature have no significant effect on the biogas potential production. The co-digestion of decanter cake with rubber block wastewater provides the highest biogas yield potential production in the ambient temperature. The experimental results reveal that the decanter cake can be potential sources for biogas production.
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