Quality Testing of Homemade Garden Tiles

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture industry plays a significant role in the Philippine economy. It involves about 40 percent of Filipino workers contributing an average of 20% to the Gross Domestic Product. This comes mainly from agribusiness which in turn accounts for about 70% of the total agricultural output (CIDA -LGSP,2003). This sector produces food crops, meat and animal products. It also produces tons of other materials long regarded as wastes. These wastes include crop residues, parts of crop plants not eaten and farm animal's waste products. Disposal of agricultural wastes is the main concern of our locality. People usually burn and throw garbage in canals which causes pollution and blocks the flow of water causing floods. To take action of these wastes, people started to recycle to lessen or eradicate waste. This is one of the reasons the researcher is encouraged to conduct projects using agricultural wastes. Production of home-made garden tiles with the use of these wastes is seen to be a potential solution to address the problem concerning to waste management.

METHODS

This study is experimental in design. Different agricultural waste were gathered. The control variable were commercial tiles while the different treatments were the different mixtures of the agricultural waste. The mixtures were placed in similar molders and sun dried for 7 days. The finished products were subjected to different test, compressive strength in DPWH, breaking point, water resistant. The return of investment were computed.

RESULTS

The different tiles were tested on its quality. The treatment with highest compressive strength is the T3 (egg shell), the treatment with highest breaking point is the T2 (Areca Nut), and the treatment with lowest water resistant is the control variable followed by T3. Moreover, the water resistance of the different treatments has significant difference. Lastly, different tiles made a potential source for return of investment.

DISCUSSIONS

Based on the findings, T1 and T3 are the best treatments in terms of its water resistant. However, none of the treatments has significant difference in terms of breaking point and compressive strength. The different materials used in the study can be recommended in making homemade garden tiles. Also, the agricultural waste will be reduced. Furthermore, future researches may find other agricultural waste for the production of tiles.