CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION
This chapter of the paper presents the problem and its setting. It includes the
background of the study, the statement of the problem, hypothesis of the study,
conceptual and theoretical framework.
Background of the Study
Acidity describes the amount of acid in a substance. An acid is a chemical that
gives off hydrogen ions in water and forms salts by combining with certain metals.
Acidity is measured on a scale called pH scale. Ph level is a measure of how acidic or
basic a substance or solution is. Ph is measured on a scale of 0-14. On this scale, a pH
value of 7 is neutral, which means it is neither acidic nor basic. (NCI’s Dictionary of
Cancer Terms, n.d). Concrete is the composite material that is created by mixing
binding material (cement or lime) along with the aggregate (sand, gravel, stone, brick,
chips and etc.), water, admixtures, etc. in specific proportions. The strength and quality
are dependent on the mixing proportions (Chowdhury,n.d).
There are plenty of archipelagic countries such as Indonesia, Japan and other
countries, where lots of people live in the distant and isolated islands. Transportation of
fresh water and other concrete material for concrete production to distant and isolated
islands will raise the cost of concrete works. The utilization of seawater in concrete
production will not only benefit saving fresh water, but also reduce construction cost and
CO2 gas emissions in operational transportation indirectly (Hamada,2017).
In coastal areas, there has always been a deficiency of fresh water as the
available water is affected by sea salts. So, it is difficult to deliver fresh water for
construction works in such location. Also, it is economical to use sea water that is
available near the construction site instead of potable water to be transported from other
areas sources. But sea water contains large amount of sea salts, which may have
unfavorable effects on the properties of concrete (Guo, 2018).

According to Wicaksono and Nurwidayati (2022), result showed that the concrete
compressive strengths with normal water were 26.23, 26.61, 28.31, and 28.31 MPa at
28, 56, 90, and 120 days, respectively. In comparison, concrete mixed with low pH
water was 25.48, 26.04, 26.42, and 26.42 MPa at 28, 56, 90, and 120 days,
respectively. The wet-dry curing system for normal water concrete mixed reduced the
compressive strength at 28 days by 14.39%, 56 days by 18.44%, 90 days by 14.00%,
and 120 days by 10.00%. The wet-dry curing with acidic water also decreased the
concrete compressive strength. The wet-dry condition breaks the hydration process
between concrete and acid water. Wet-dry curing decreased the compressive strength
of concrete. The compressive strength at 28, 56, and 90days decreased 16.30, 12.32,
and 7.86%, respectively. While at 120 days, the compressive strength on wet-dry curing
slightly increased by 1.43% by 0.01%. Wet dry curing breaks the concrete hydration
process with acid water.

through to the study of Rakib et.al., (2020), the effect of mixing water pH on
concrete performance was studied. From the study it was evident that the pH of mixing
water has very little influence on short term compressive strength of concrete. But it has
significant impact on long term compressive strength of concrete. It was also found that
compressive strength increases with the increase in pH of mixing water. The specific
heat and thermal diffusivity values were found incremental for both acidic and alkaline
mixing water as compared to neutral water. As thermal conductivity is the product of
these two components, similar behavior was observed for the samples made with
different water pH. About 40% thermal conductivity was increased for the sample
prepared with mixing water of pH 13 as compared with sample prepared with mixing
water of pH 7. The value was also found about 28% incremental for mixing water pH of
5.
As stated by Sobhnamayan et.al., (2015) in their study compressive strength of
mineral trioxide aggregate and calcium-enriched mixture cement mixed with propylene
glycol , the greatest (48.59±10.36) and the lowest (9.67±3.16) mean compressive
strength values were observed after exposure to pH value of 9.4 and 7.4, respectively.
Alkaline environment significantly increased the compressive strength of CEM cement
compared to the control group. There was no significant difference between the pH
values of 9.4 and 10.4 but significant differences were found between pH values of 9.4,
8.4 and 7.4. The acidic environment showed better results than the neutral environment,
although the difference was not significant for the pH value of 6.4. Alkaline pH also
showed significantly better results than acidic and neutral ph. The compressive strength
of CEM cement improved in the presence of acidic and alkaline environments but
alkaline environment showed the best results.

Till now there are many researchers investigated on the strength behaviors of
concrete made with plain as well as sea water (Guo, 2019). As fresh water is a finite
resource, replacing fresh water with sea water in concrete mixing may be potentially
advantageous. This is especially true in coastal region islands, and desert region where
fresh water may be scare (Khatibmasjedi, et.al.,) .
 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Input Process Output

Acidity pH level of: Quasi-Experimental: Average pH level

a. Salt water a. Content analysis Acidity factors in
b. Fresh water of mixtures concrete mixture
b. Strength test

Figure: Paradigm of the study

The researchers will apply an IPO (Input-Process-Output) model to classify the
stages of the process. According to MacCuspie et al., (2014) IPO model represents a
system in three stages: input, process, and output. Inputs are modeled as consumables
and efforts that are introduced to a system at the beginning stage of life cycle. Output is
modeled as the result produced by the system. Process is modeled as the conversion of
the inputs into the outputs. The research will be determining the average pH level and
acidity factors of seawater and freshwater through content analysis. Content analysis is
a research method used to identify patterns in recorded communication (Luo,2019).
Water is an essential ingredient that largely affects the performance of concrete
since pH of the mixing water has a significant impact on the durability of concrete as it
affects the reaction of cementitious materials during the hydration process (Dutta,
2020). pH stands for “potential for Hydrogen”. It is measure of the acidity or alkalinity of
water-soluble substances. Rivers and lakes generally rage between 5 (acidic) and
9(basic) on the pH scale. Whereas ocean water average closer to 8.2 (slightly basic)
(Fondriest Environmental, n.d.) Strength is a fundamental characteristic to assess
durability of concrete in term quality of concrete. Durability and strength of concrete
structure are interrelated, where a strength and durability relationship of concrete may
always be estimated (Hamada, 2017).
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

General Problem:
This study aims to determine the acidity factors in concrete mixture.
Specific problem:
1. What is the average pH level of the materials in the concrete mixture?
2. Are there significant differences in the pH level of the materials according to
source:
a. Fresh water
b. Salt water
3. Is there significant difference between uses of fresh water materials and salt
water materials compared according to:
a. Curing period
b. Compressive strength
Hypothesis of the study
There is no significant difference in the pH level of the materials according to
fresh water and salt water.
There is no significant difference between using fresh water materials and salt
water materials compared according to curing period and strength after period.
 Utepov, Y., Tulebekova, A., Aldungarova, A., Mkilima, T., Zharassov, S.,
Shakhmov, Z., ... & Kaliyeva, Z. (2022). Investigating the Influence of Initial Water pH on
Concrete Strength Gain Using a Sensors and Sclerometric Test Combination.
Infrastructures, 7(12), 159.
Dutta, C., Rakib, M. A., Hossain, M. A., & Rashid, M. H. EFFECT OF MIXING
WATER pH ON CONCRETE.
Sobhnamayan, F., Sahebi, S., Alborzi, A., Ghorbani, S., & Shojaee, N. S. (2015).
Effect of different pH values on the compressive strength of calcium-enriched mixture
cement. Iranian endodontic journal, 10(1), 26.
Wicaksono, I. T., & Nurwidayati, R. (2022, March). The Effect of pH Water on the
Concrete Mixtures and Curing Condition on the Compressive Strength of Concrete. In
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 999, No. 1, p. 012006).
IOP Publishing.
NCI Dictionary of Cancer terms. National Cancer Institute. (n.d). Retrieved
February 22, 2023, from https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-
terms/def/acidity
Chowdhury,R.R.(N.D.). Raqifa Rahman Chowdhury.Civil Engineering. Retrieved
February 22, 2023, from https://civiltoday.com/civil-engineering-materials?concrete/270-
concrete-definiton-components-types#definiton
Related Literature
Title/Author Published date Results Conclusion and
recommendation
Influence of sea
water mixing and
curing on strength
characteristics and
porosity of ground
granulated blast
furnace slag
concrete
The effect of mixing 2018 1. Sea water affects
and curing sea the gain in strength
water on concrete of concrete when
strength at different used for mixing and
ages curing. It shows
Qingyong Guo, Lei some increases at
Chen , Huijian the early strength
Zhao , Jorge but ultimately
Admilson and decrease the
Wensong Zhang strength
2. concrete
specimen made
with freshwater and
cured with sea
water shows a loss
in strength around
7% whereas
concrete
specimens made
and cured with sea
water showed loss
in strength of
around 15% as
concrete
specimens made
and cured with
fresh water at age
90 days.
3.

Chinmoy dutta, md May 24, 2021 It was evident that

abdur rakib, md. the ph of mixing
Akhtar Hossain and water has very little
Muhammad influence on short
harunur rashid term compressive
strength of
concrete. But it has
significant impact
on long term
compressive
strength of
concrete. It was
also found that
compressive
strength increases
with the increase in
ph of mixing water.
The specific heat
and thermal
diffusivity values
were found
incremental for both
acidic and alkaline
mixing water as
behaviour was
observed for the
samples made with
different water ph.
About 40% thermal
conductivity was
increased for the
sample prepared
with mixing water of
ph 13 as compared
with sample
prepared with
mixing water of ph .
the value was also
found about 28%
incremental for
mixing water ph of
5.