Leaching Behaviour of Organic Materials in Reinforced Concrete Artificial Reef with RAC

Abstract

This paper reports the leaching behaviour of pineapple skins incorporated in the artificial reef fabricated from recycle aggregate concrete. Pineapple skin was mixed with the concrete as added material which produce nutrients to attract fish habitat. Material test was conducted on the concrete reef specimens to determine its compressive strength. The nutrients dispersed were measured by using total phosphorus and nitrate test of the water sample collected from each of the artificial reef within the six days duration. Results showed the compression strength of the reef decreased with the increase of percentage pineapple skin used. However, it was found that the total phosphorus and nitrate leached from the reef increased gradually with time as the percentage of pineapple skin used increased.