Introduction

In an arid country such as Oman, the pressure on freshwater reserves is severe. This is because

the freshwater is required to fulfill all the needs for water. The alternative source of water is the

greywater. Greywater is usually known as all sources of domestic water that have been used

once, apart from toilet and bidet water. There are big constraints to the development of treated

greywater from household. However, these constraints do not build at the mosque where a large

quantity of water is produced in ablution room. By developing knowledge based on a simple

treatment system a valueble amount of water saving can be made since there are about 13000

community mosques in Oman producing sub stantical quantity of ablution water on daily basis.

Ablution water treatment

There are 8 steps to treat the ablution water correctly which is used based on the methods used to

treat greywater. Firstly, we must removed the sand. Since the worshippers wash their feet, the

soil must be removed first. This can be achived by using a sand trap. Secondly, we use the

storage of greywater. In general, during the 24 hour period, the tank must manage to store the

ablution water. A pump should be install too to transfer the water at least once in 24 hours.

Thirdly, in the greywater methods, we must balance the pH value because depending on its

contaminants, it can be acidic or alkaline. But since the pH value of ablution water is within a

correct limits, there is no need for pH balancing. Besides that, the screening process must be

done to remove a floating solid particles such as hair, grass clippings etc. A dripinigation filter

was included to do that job. On top of that, the slow filtering should be done also. This is to

remove the odor and toxins in the water. Filtering may include slow sand filters and carbon

filters. Then, aeration or flotation process must be done. By allowing the treated water to ‘fall’

from pipes to storage tanks, opportunity for aeration was provided. Furthermore, a chlorination

process must be done. A chlorination chute was considered necessary since the Coliform levels

were above acceptable levels. Finally, a storage tank, big enough to store water at least two day

to ensure the reliable supply of treated water.

Wudhu Water Saving Method

To allow the settlement of soil particles, the ablution water was sent through a sand trap. The

periodic cleaning of this trap was easy because the sand trap was shallow. Automatically the

ablution water was conveyed by gravity to the wudhu water storage tank, and water dropped

from near soil surface to the water level, aerating on its way. In the event of the number of the

worshippers increased in the future, the storage tank will be adequate to store more water. A

submersible pump was installed in the storage tank which was controlled by a float. When the

depth of water in the storage tank was 0.5 m, the float triggered the operation of the pump and it

immediately stop the pump when the depth of water storage tank dropped to 0.2 m depth. Thus,

the untreated water was not held in the tank for a long time. The pump lifted the water to send

through a drip-irrigation filter. This would stop floating matter passes through. After the

filtration process, the water passed through a chlorination chute which is full of chlorine tablets.

The filtered water that was mixed with chlorine was then dropped into the treated water storage

tank, further aerated on its passage.

Conclusions

To provide an alternative source of water for irrigation of lawns and gardens the people of Oman

can use the water used for ablution at the mosques across Oman. However, its true potential

regarding the quality and the quantity still remained unknown. This is because the result show

the volume of the ablution water production at the mosque was highly variable, making it an

untrusted source of information. However, by making a sufficiently big storage tanks for treated

water, a buffer can be created and the reability of treated ablution water supply can be improved.