Use of water for compaction 1

[tonichai]

are there any specific requirements on the water used for wetting in subgrade compaction,like TDS, chemical content?

cheers

 

[GoldDredger]

I've never heard of anything relating to the chemical composition of water regarding subgrade compaction.

With respect to water, I can only think of the optimum moisture content determined by the proctor test.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

If I remember correctly - not a good idea. Water weighs about 63 pcf while soils can go from 100-150 pcf. So water is lighter??

Looks good - just not sure if it works good??

 

[Ron]

tonichai....
TDS wouldn't be an issue. Water used for compaction assistance need not be potable, but should not be reactive to any of the soil components. That usually is not an issue as most structural soils are not greatly attacked by chemicals. There are some exceptions...calcareous soils are affected by acidic water. Cement stabilization can be greatly affected by organic laden water or acidic water.

Some water types can give erroneous moisture content readings when using non-oven dried techniques for moisture determination in the field. This can result in improper determination of the in-place density of the material.

Outside that, most anything wet can be used to assist compactive effort based on a properly done moisture-density relationship as determined in the lab and proper in-place density testing in the field.