Effect of cement on construction of biosand filters in remote communities around the world

Date

2015

Authors

Deaconu, Alexandra
Gupta, Rishi

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

ACC Limited

Abstract

Availability of clean drinking water is a major issue around the world. There are various techniques available to treat water; however, people living in rural and remote communities, especially in developing countries do not have access to many of these water treatment options. Over the years, biosand filters have become very popular to treat water and according to some estimates more than 400,000 filters are currently in use. However, there are many issues that limit the use of such biosand filters and one of them is the lack of understanding of the effect of concrete on the quality of the biosand filter. Cement produced in different countries, especially developing countries, can vary in quality significantly and its effect on constructing biosand filters is not understood. The project described in the paper investigates the effect of quality of cement procured from Uganda, Zambia, and Nepal on the compressive strength of concrete and ultimately the construction of the biosand filters. Results indicate that the compressive strength of cement from developing countries is significantly lower than that of Canadian cement, but may still provide sufficient strength for constructing biosand filters.

Description

Technical paper

Keywords

Quality of cement, biosand filters, water filtration in remote communities

Citation

Deaconu, A., Gupta, R. 2015, "Effect of cement on construction of biosand filters in remote communities around the world", Indian Concrete Journal.v 89, issue 3, pp. 36-43.