UTILIZATION OF SEA WATER FOR CONSTRUCTION, AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR POTABLE WATER

Abstract

One of the mostly used materials for construction purpose presently is concrete and the reason behind its use is its good
compressive strength and durability. The consumption of concrete in the world is estimated to be around 12 billion tons
every year. The strength and durability of concrete will be fully developed only if it is cured. Curing of concrete structure
is essential if it is to perform the intended function over the design life of the structure. Concrete is needed to be provided
with moisture for a minimum period of 28 days for good hydration and to attain desired strength. Any laxity in curing will
badly affect the strength and durability of concrete. An area like sea side, or the area where saline water is available for
the curing, is a scarcity of pure water where curing with normal water is difficult and in cases where large areas like
pavements have to be cured.
In this paper, we study the different tests analyzing the effects of mixing and curing concrete with saline seawater on the
compressive, tensile, flexural and bond strengths of concrete. For testing, three group of cube casted in the laboratory, in
which six cubes of concrete mixes were mixed and cured in fresh water, six cubes were mixed and cured in seawater,
while four cubes were mixed with fresh water and cured in seawater. These cubes were cured for 7, 14, 21, 28 days and
were tested for compressive strength. For this concrete cubes were cast for a design mix of M-20, 1:1.777:2.826 by weight
and 0.45 water cement ratio.