Reutilizing potentials of ablution water for sustainable living

The existence of all living things is purely dependent upon the water presence, water covers around 70.9 % of earth surface but only 2.5% fresh water is available for the population of over 7 billion people, which is also fast depleting. According to ‘World Population Prospects 2015’ released by the United Nation (UN), Pakistan is among six of the 10 largest countries in the world whose population has been projected to exceed 300 million by 2050. At present, the country's population has been estimated to be around 190 million. Since water is a precious commodity hence it must be utilized wisely and judiciously. Pakistan is a Muslims majority country and it is obligatory for all Muslims to maintain prayer five times a day and it is prerequisite to perform ablution before prayer. Hence huge quantum of water is generated during ritual washing in the form of greywater from all over the Muslim world. The main objective of this study is to determine the potentials (quantity) of ablution water generated by the Muslims of Hyderabad City of Sindh province. A huge quantity of greywater is being generated from the mosques during ablution and mixing with polluted black water (wastewater). This mixed wastewater has various issues which includes load on conveyance system of sewage, chances of overtop the drains and ultimate burden on the wastewater treatment plants. It is observed that an average 7.44 liters is used to perform ablution by a person before each prayer. In this context, more than 2206 m ³ per day of greywater (Average) is being generated from almost 750 mosques of the Hyderabad. This water is relatively less polluted and can be reclaimed by simple physical treatment and disinfection process and reused for non-potable consumption.