1. Introduction and Literature Review
Jordan is one of the most arid countries in the Middle East and is facing severe water shortages. The mean annual rainfall in more than 90% of the country is less than 200 mm. However, the average rainfall in the mountain areas reaches up to 600 mm [
1]. The current per capita water supply is 200 m
3/year for all purposes which is almost one-third of the global average. The problem of water scarcity is magnified by high population growth rates and influx of refugees from the surrounding countries. It is expected that Jordan’s population will cause a drastic decline in per capita water availability to 91 m
3. Water shortage has significantly increased stress on water resources. Groundwater resources account for 54% of Jordan’s total water supply. Aquifers in Jordan are being used at twice the recharge rate and are being threatened by pollution due to over-pumping, seepage from landfill sites, and improper disposal of dangerous chemicals. A key factor of water supply management is utilizing alternative sources of water such as treated waste water [
2].
Currently the concrete industry can be considered as one of the largest water consumers in Jordan. Each cubic metre of ready-mix concrete consumes around 175 L as mixing water and an additional 70 L of water to later wash the mixer trucks, concrete pumps, and equipment. Following washing, the waste wash-water (WWW) contains a high suspended solid content, extremely high dissolved solids ≥ 9000 mg/L, heavy metals and is extremely alkaline with pH ≥ 12. Its disposal can be considered one of the major environmental problems with ready-mix concrete production around the world. If inappropriately disposed of it can pollute local water sources due to its high pH value [
3] and can allow heavy metals to enter the surrounding environment. The toxicity of heavy metals has been proven as a major threat for human health [
4], but concrete has been shown to effectively immobilize any heavy metals within it [
5]. The global concrete production is 11 billion tonnes annually. This requires approximately 1.87 billion m
3 of fresh water as mixing water and generates 748 Million m
3 of WWW. For instance, in Jordan, there are 10 ready mix concrete companies with around 36 plants which generate around 1.5 million m
3 of WWW per year. While in some countries, like the UK and South Africa, almost all WWW is recycled [
6]. The current practices in developing countries is illegal dumping in the city boundaries due to deficiency of government legislative and low care of concrete waste recycling. In many construction sites the construction and demolition waste are mixed together which leads to disallowing of recycling of these parts ([
7,
8]).
However, the common practice in Jordan is to send this WWW to a landfill or in some cases, illegally discharge this near the construction sites. This is a serious threat to the environment and water resources. Ready mix concrete plants are facing an actual challenge due to the water shortage, and high cost of fresh water, and waste water disposal. Therefore, a novel innovation which inspires new solutions to this challenge will have a direct positive impact on the environment in Jordan and worldwide. In addition, proof of concept of a pilot plant for WWW treatment using efficient, simple and feasible technologies, cost effective and applicable to scale up will lead to produce low cost ready-mix concrete.
This work adds to the existing knowledge around WWW use in concrete. This is because the situation in Jordan is different to many other countries that already use WWW in concrete in that the Hellenic standards used for water quality in Jordan are stricter than the EN (EU) or ASTM (USA) standards used elsewhere (see later), and also because the arid conditions in Jordan can result in higher salinity in soils which can be concentrated in WWW and other recycled water [
2].
In this study, the optimum goal was to produce zero waste from the ready-mix concrete industry by filtering and treating WWW for reuse as a mixing water in ready mix concrete plants. In addition, the separated solid powder could be collected and recycled in cement clinker or asphalt mixtures. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency [
9], the filtered wash-water after pretreatment to remove metals and reduce its pH, it can be reused for several applications or it can be delivered to a municipal waste water network. In addition, cementitious solids can be recycled (
Table 1). In the UK, according to the Environment Agency [
10], it is permissible to treat and reuse concrete wash-waters, and cement fines and silt separated from wash-waters without an environmental permit as long as the activities do not threaten the environment (water, air, soil, plants or animals) and human health or cause noise or odours that affect the countryside.
Previous studies have shown promising results regarding the recycling of ready-mixed concrete waste water in several ratios with fresh water for concrete production [
11,
12]. Klus et al. [
13] reported that recycling the waste water from concrete plant as partial replacement of mixing water (20%, 50%) in mortar production is possible without harmfully affecting the mechanical properties. The results revealed that using WWW led to a 15 min reduction in the setting time and increased the flexural strength as well as the compressive strength at 28 days of age.
Tsimas and Zervaki [
14] carried out research on the recycling of waste water from ready-mixed concrete plants. The results revealed that all WWW samples exceed the pH value of 11.5 and they were all classified as hazardous waste and should not be disposed according to European and US legislation. It was observed that all water samples fulfill with the ASTM and EN standard specifications for mixing water used in the production of concrete concerning their chemical properties, but none of them meet with the Hellenic Standards very strict specifications. According to the present study—and in other studies where WWW has been compared to the Hellenic standard [
14]—the use of appropriately processed WWW does not harm concrete performance even though it does not fit with the Hellenic Standard. It is in some ways ironic that arid countries such as Jordan have standards that limit the use of recycled water as mix water in concrete without extensive treatment, while less arid countries such as the UK permit the use of WWW without the extensive pre-treatment.
Xuan et al. [
15] carried out a review study that focused on all relevant processing of waste from concrete plants and their potential re-use. Currently, washing-out systems have been implemented at many ready-mix concrete plants, and furthermore, reclaiming systems that produce reclaimed aggregates and concrete slurry waste are sometimes used. Even though the potential to re-utilize these forms of waste has attracted a wide range of interest, the methods and principles of the mechanisms of treatments have only been reported in discrete and inconclusive manners. Management challenges associated with poor product performance, low re-utilization rate, high cost and strict regulations continue to limit their sustainable utilization.
The work described in this paper was carried out to characterize WWW from ready-mix concrete plants in Jordan and to evaluate and investigate the potential of reusing the treated WWW in ready-mix concrete using efficient, simple and feasible technologies. A pilot plant for the treatment of WWW was designed and installed in a ready mix concrete plant. Raw and treated WWW samples were collected and analyzed at the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) laboratories. Collected water samples were evaluated for their physical, chemical and biological properties. Concrete mixes using treated water were produced and tested at 7, 28, and 90 days.
The expected outcomes of this study are that a novel innovation, which inspires new solutions to this challenge, will directly impact the environment in Jordan and developing countries. In addition, this research will provide proof of concept of a pilot plant for WWW treatment using efficient, simple and feasible technologies, in a cost effective and up-scalable manner. In addition, it will provide a new water resource to sustain the concrete industry’s activities in Jordan and give a clear idea about the potential of WWW reusing for ready mix concrete industry in Jordan.
4. Conclusions
This study has shown that raw waste wash-water (WWW as it comes from a mixer vehicle) does not meet the current standard maximum concentration limits for concrete mixing water according to EN, ASTM or the Hellenic standard used in Jordan. Test results have shown that this raw WWW also leads to significant compressive strength and slump value reductions as well as poor workability, even after dilution. Moreover, this raw WWW meets the classification for being considered a hazardous waste in Jordan. When the WWW had larger particles removed in a settling pond, it still did not meet the water quality standards. However, when it was used to replace 75% of the mix water it did not result in statistically significant strength reductions at the 95% confidence level, and there were no major implications for workability. Consequently, this indicates that the EN and ASTM standards for mix water may have a degree of conservatism built into them since water outside their boundaries appears to be at least partially suitable as mix water.
When the water was passed through the settling pond was filtered, the quality did improve to the point where it met the EN and ASTM standards for mix water, but still did not meet the Hellenic standard, mainly because the pH was still too high. As with the water in the settling pond, there was no significant strength reduction or workability concerns when it was used as mix water.
In order to meet the Hellenic standard, as well as the Jordanian Standard Specification for industrial reclaimed waste water (JS 202, 2007), the pH was reduced through carbonation by the addition of CO2. However, the additional cost of carbonation is difficult to justify because the results showed no benefit to concrete properties in meeting this stricter standard when compared to the EN and ASTM standards.
In conclusion, WWW is a potential new water resource to sustain the ready-mix concrete industry activities in Jordan. Moreover, this research will provide proof of concept of a pilot plant for WWW treatment using efficient, simple and feasible technologies, in a cost effective and up-scalable manner. This will directly impact the environment in Jordan and worldwide as well as for millions of people around the world. In addition, the option of developing a Jordanian standard based on further scientific studies using local materials should also be considered.