Abstract
Alum sludge produced in large amounts from the drinking water treatment plants (WTP) as a result of using aluminium sulphate as a primary coagulant. The sludge disposed during the various water treatment processes can be a major concern for (WTP). A large quantity of sludge is generated each year from those water treatment plants in Egypt. Disposing the sludge to the nearest watercourse is the common practice in Egypt, which accumulatively rise the aluminum concentrations in water and consequently in human bodies. Disposal of sludge in a way that is economically and environmentally sustainable is a major challenge faced by WTPs around the globe. In this study, the alum sludge generated during water treatment was used as a partial substitute for brick manufacturing process. In this study, different series of sludge and cement proportioning ratios were studied, which exclusively involved the addition of sludge with ratios of 5 to 30 % of the total weight of brick mixture. In this paper, the physical and mechanical properties of sludge-cement bricks, such as loss on ignition (LOI), water absorption, and compressive strength, are investigated. The results from this study indicate that alum sludge could be used as a partial substitute in commercial cement bricks to a maximum of 30% without compromising the strength of the bricks.