During the treatment of drinking water, sludge with high water content (usually more than 95% by weight) occurs. This sludge, which usually results from the coagulation process, is called alum or iron sludge, depending on the type of the coagulant used. Since the the amount of the solid matter in the sludge is low and the water content is high, the produced water treatment sludge constitutes large volumes, and therefore the treatment and disposal of water treatment sludges in the treatment plants cause problems. The beneficial use of drinking water treatment sludge in various fields is of great importance as it will eliminate the problems related to the disposal of these wastes. In this study, information about the general properties of drinking water treatment sludges were introduced, and the beneficial uses of these sludges in geotechnical applications were investigated.

Keyword(s):water treatment sludge, geotechnical properties, beneficial use, environmental geotechnics,

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