ABSTRACT

This work aimed to characterize a by-product of the water treatment process, aiming to insert it into the productive chain of construction. Such by-product was generated in a water treatment plant (WTP), which performs the capture of raw water from the Negro River and, eventually, from the Solimões River. To adapt the water from these sources to the Brazilian standards potable water, a series of physical-chemical processes are carried out at WTP, which lead to the generation of waste called as WTP sludge. Aiming to identify possible technological applications for this by-product, a pertinent bibliographical research was carried out. That way, it was verified that WTP sludge needs pretreatment prior to use. Like this, in order to make the studied WTP sludge an adequate raw material, the same was submitted to drying, grinding and calcination. Before and after such procedures, the sludge characteristics was determined by means of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetry (TG), among other techniques. The characterization results showed that more than 80% of the calcined sludge composition corresponds to silica and aluminum oxides. It is believed that, after processing, the sludge has become an economically and environmentally sustainable raw material, it can be used as partial substitute of clays, in the production of ceramic materials;partial substitute of Portland cement, in pastes, mortars and concretes; mineral additive or artificial pozzolana; geopolymer precursor or aggregate.

Keywords
WTP sludge; waste; construction; Negro River; Solimões River