Information needed on the Quality of Sand for construction

[msn1270]

Hello Friends,

in the recent days, there is a lot of news in bangalore about "Filtered Sand(Filter Maralu or Berake/chow chow Maralu) uknowingly in use in the Bangalore construction field. Experts are saying its dangerous to use Filter Sand for Construction,as it reduced the life of the structures and may cause damages in the long run.

So can someone enlighten us how to identity the Riverside pure Sand Versus Filtered Sand ?

[ardesarchitects]

Hi guys,
The filter sand is a big issue in the construction field. Filter sand is made my washing mud with water, as the mud gets washed off the sand remains.
Filter sand
1. Filter sand is very fine and free of any other materials like pebbles, shells etc…
2. Filter sand is felt very smooth and uniform sand granules
3. You can also find few lumps of mud may be in a size of .5” to 2”
River Sand
1. River sand is mix of pebbles, shells etc….
2. River sand granules are bit bigger than filter sand
3. Neither mud lumps nor fine sand that catches your hand when you try to test it.
4. River sand is wet if brought directly from the sand beds, vendors cheat by pouring water on filter sand to feel like river sand.
5. Grains are smooth.
Hope this helps to find good sand; there are vendors those mix filter with river sand.

Regards
Ar.Praveen.N
Ardes Architects and Interior Designers
ardesarchitects@yahoo.co.in