Utilization of textile effluent sludge to create concrete

Large amounts of natural resources are required to produce concrete. To satisfy the expanding demand for infrastructure, enormous amounts of concrete are required, consequently exploiting natural resources; hence the use of textile effluent sludge (TES) from the industry as base materials for the production of concrete is viewed as a feasible solution for avoiding the extreme utilization of resources to eliminate or minimize the detrimental effects of the concrete industry on the environment and encourage environmental sustainability. In this paper, an attempt is made to partially replace cement with TES obtained from the textile industry of the Vidarbha region. M 30 grade of concrete is prepared by replacing cement partially with TES from 5 to 25%, and results are compared with the controlled concrete. These samples were subjected to various physicomechanical and durability testing in accordance with Indian standards. The overall strength aspect of developed concrete was found to be comparable with controlled concrete up to 20% replacement. The maximum strength at 28 days was 31 MPa when 5% of the cement was substituted with TES, allowing it to be used for structural applications. Therefore, it may be inferred that TES, when applied at an optimum dose of 15%, can substitute cement to a certain degree.