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When properly processed, rice husk ash (RHA) comprises a large amount of SiO2, which exhibits a high pozzolanic activity and acts as a good building filler. In this paper, the effects of rice husk ash content, acid pretreatment, and production regions on the compressive and flexural properties and water absorption of a cement paste were studied. The experimental results showed that the compressive strength of the rice husk ash was the highest with a 10% content level, which was about 16.22% higher than that of the control sample. The rice husk after acid pretreatment displayed a higher strength than that of the sample without the acid treatment, and the rice husk from the Inner Mongolia region indicated a higher strength than that from the Guangdong province. However, the flexural strength of each group was not significantly different from that of the blank control group. The trend observed for the water absorption was similar to that of the compressive strength. The variation in the RHA proportions had the greatest influence on the properties of the paste specimens, followed by the acid pretreatments of the rice husks. The production regions of the rice husks indicated the least influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]