3.1. Strength of Mortar Produced with (D)PAOs and Zeolite
The mixing ratio of (D)PAOs was determined in the preliminary characteristics experiment by analyzing and comparing fluidity and strength measurements. The results showed that the fluidity was not significantly affected by the addition of (D)PAOs, but the compression strength was 10% higher when (D)PAOs were added.
In the present study, mortar was produced according to mixing ratios as follows: while the mixing ratio of (D)PAOs was set to 10%, the mixing ratio of zeolite was adjusted to be 0%, 5%, and 10%. Subsequently, the compression strength of each mortar produced was measured and compared. The strength test results of these mortar products mixed with (D)PAOs and zeolite are shown in
Figure 6. Here, the mixing of 10% (D)PAOs led to an increase in compression strength by 6.2% due to the effect of flocs that were generated during the formation of microorganisms. When 5% or 10% zeolite was added along with 10% (D)PAOs, the strength was lower than that of the (D)PAOs-added mortar. This phenomenon is considered to be due to the delay of an early hydration reaction caused by the addition of zeolite, which has a lower density and smaller content of CaO than cement [
5]. When compared to plain mortar, however, the product mixed with 5% zeolite and 10% (D)PAOs and the product mixed with 10% zeolite and 10% (D)PAOs showed strength increases of 1.02 MPa and 1.88 MPa, respectively [
3]. In other words, these (D)PAOs/zeolite-added mortar products exhibited compression strength equivalent to or higher than that of plain mortar products.
3.2. Strength of Porous Concrete Produced with (D)PAOs and Zeolite
Porous concrete was produced by adding both (D)PAOs and zeolite, and its porosity and compressive strength were measured, as shown in
Figure 7. Here, porosity is an important indicator to determine the water purification performance of porous concrete, which is enhanced by its pores and the microorganisms therein. As can be seen in the results, the porosity decreased with increasing mixing ratios of (D)PAOs and zeolite [
5,
7]. This phenomenon is ascribed to the mixing of (D)PAOs resulting in an increase in the amount of flocs, and also to zeolite, whose density is lower than that of cement, replacing cement and thus increasing the volume of the binding materials. When 10% (D)PAOs and 10% zeolite were added, however, the measured porosity was still 0.9% lower than the target porosity, indicating that the effect on water purification performance was not significant.
When the mixing ratio of (D)PAOs was set to 10%, the compressive strength of porous concrete increased by 1.40 MPa, but the increase was slightly reduced with zeolite added to improve product formability and contaminant absorption capacity. As similarly shown in compressive strength tests of mortar, this was due to the decreasing proportion of CaO in the binding materials and the reduced hydration reaction rate in the early stages [
4,
5]. When compared to plain products, porous concrete mixed with 10% (D)PAOs and 10% zeolite showed a strength increase of about 0.5 MPa. This observation confirmed that porous concrete had an advantage in strength as well.
These findings lead to the conclusion that the mixing ratio of zeolite can be set up to 10% to improve the water purification performance of secondary concrete products while maintaining sufficient void ratio and strength.
3.3. Water Purification Properties of the Porous Concrete Produced with (D)PAOs and Zeolite
The water-quality measurement results of typical porous concrete and the (D)PAOs/zeolite-added porous concrete are shown in
Figure 8. The initial BOD and COD concentrations of the artificial wastewater used in the present study were 9.16 mg/L and 201.04 mg/L, respectively. The results showed that the BOD and COD concentrations tended to decrease over immersion time. In the (D)PAOs-added porous concrete, the BOD concentration after seven days of immersion was found to be 3.856 mg/L, lower than that of the typical porous concrete. This phenomenon is ascribed to the existence of (D)PAOs, which decomposed and stabilized contaminants in the artificial wastewater, thereby effectively reducing the degree of contamination by organic materials. In the meantime, after seven days of immersion, the COD concentration was 20.387 mg/L, and the corresponding ratio of BOD/COD was 0.2. This ratio clearly indicated the occurrence of the biological process that eliminated organic materials capable of biodegradation [
6].
The T-N removal rate significantly varied between the typical porous concrete and the (D)PAOs-added porous concrete even after one day of immersion, clearly demonstrating the de-nitrification effect of (D)PAOs. The T-P removal rate was slightly higher in the (D)PAOs-added porous concrete at an early stage of immersion, but the difference significantly increased after 5-day of immersion. The reason for this is that flocs tend to increase in size and number, as shown in
Figure 9, which is similarly observed when microorganisms are used to purify wastewater [
11,
12,
13,
14]. Also, PAOs such as
Acetobacter (obligate aerobes), take in phosphorus in wastewater. Moreover, the concentrations of T-N, T-P, BOD, and COD tend to decrease because de-nitrification takes place and the BOD is consumed by microorganisms, such as
Pseudomonas,
Alcaligenes, and
Hyphomicrobium [
15,
16,
17]. The microorganisms observed using digital optical microscope (Olympus-BX51TRF) in the test process of water purification in this study are shown in
Figure 10; these microorganisms induce phosphorus accumulation and denitrification [
3].
In the (D)PAOs-added porous concrete, the T-N removal rate was about 60% at 3 days old, but when both (D)PAOs and zeolite were added, the removal rate was about 65% at 3 days old, i.e., an increase of 5 percentage points. The rate slightly increased at the 5-day age, and the 7-day rate was about 86%, which was 17 percentage points higher than that of the (D)PAOs-added porous concrete. The T-P removal rate was higher in the (D)PAOs- and zeolite-added porous concrete, and there was an approximately 10% improvement over the entire course of the test.
The COD removal rate was also higher in the (D)PAOs- and zeolite-added porous concrete in the early stages, and the COD concentration decreased to about 16.915 mg/L at 7 days old. The degree of BOD removal was lower than that for COD, but the BOD concentration was about 2.791 mg/L lower in the (D)PAOs- and zeolite-added porous concrete than in typical porous concrete. When compared to the (D)PAOs-added porous concrete, the BOD concentration was about 1.188 mg/L lower. Overall, the (D)PAOs- and zeolite-added porous concrete exhibited better water purification performance than did the (D)PAOs-added porous concrete because the mixing of zeolite enhances the porous concrete’s ability to absorb contaminants, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, and ion exchange, accumulation, and decomposition of contaminants are promoted by the added zeolite and microorganisms [
4,
5,
18,
19].
Meanwhile, to maximize the water purification effect of the microorganisms mixed into porous concrete, it is important to keep the concrete in a moist condition for a specific period of time so that the activity of the microorganisms can be enhanced. If the product is placed in rivers or streams, however, the moisture condition needs not be considered, because the material stays underwater.