2. Water for Building Construction:
Water used for mixing and curing shall be clean and free from injurious substances of oils, acids, alkalis, salts, sugar, organic materials (or) other substances that may be deleterious to concrete (or) steel. Portable water is generally considered satisfactory for mixing concrete.
Quality for Building Construction as per IS 456:2000
Portable Water/River water:
Generally, quality of water for construction works are same as drinking water/Portable water. Generally, Surface water i.e., River water is generally good for construction.
Quality of Water:
This is to ensure that the water is reasonably free from such impurities as suspended solids, organic matter and dissolved salts, which may adversely affect the properties of the concrete, especially the setting, hardening, strength, durability, pit value, etc., The water shall be clean and shall not contain sugar, molasses (or) gur (or) their derivates, (or) sewage, oils, organic substances.
The water quality for construction shall be tested (or) monitored regularly, as it affects the overall strength of concrete. For plain and reinforced cement concrete permissible limits for solids shall be as follows:
Types of Solid in water | Permissible Limits for Construction |
Organic matter | 200 mg/l |
Inorganic matter | 3000 mg/l |
Sulphates (So4) | 500 mg/l |
Chlorides (Cl) | A) 1000 mg/l for RCC work and, b) 2000 mg/l for PCC work |
Suspended matter | 2000 mg/l |