ABLUTION WATER TREATMENT OF ENHANCING WATER

QUALITY BY USING SOLAR DISINFECTION (SoDis) METHOD

1,2Siti Nor Hidayah Arifin, 1,2Radin Maya Saphira Radin Mohamed, 1Nurul Fadilah
Mohd Saupi and 1,2Nurul Haakmal AB Durahim
1
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.
2
Micropollutan Research Center, University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
The sources of freshwater becoming decreased universally from time to time. This issue is
leading to the advance management in order to secure the water supply resources. Therefore,
the aim of this study is to determine the efficiency of SoDis in enhancing water quality and
reducing bacteria load in ablution water. The observation of ablution water production was done
in 3 days weekday and 3 days weekend on different week at University Tun Hussein Onn
Malaysia (UTHM) Mosque. By that, the average production of ablution water on weekday is
629.2L within 143 worshipers per day while 5398.8L on weekend within 1227 worshipers per
day. Designation of SoDis been develop by attaching two Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
plastic bottle and the both of it were attached via small size of PET plastic for water treatment.
One of them was painted in black to enhance the UV absorption to kill the pathogen. The
performance of SoDis was monitored from 9 am to 5 pm under sunlight to observe the
productivity of treated ablution water. The removal efficiency of Biochemical Oxygen Demand
(BOD) on weekday and weekend quite similar with 53% and 50%. Meanwhile for total coliform
removal are 55% and 30%. Based on the BOD value, ablution water is not highly contaminated
and can be reused as non-potable uses after treatment and it is possible to achieve the standard
for irrigation. According to the production of ablution water per day, it seems significant to
treat ablution water in securing water supply resources.

Keyword: Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Bacteria Load, Greywater, Water Resources,

Worshipers

INTRODUCTION
Water is a natural resource that is very important in everyday life. As demand for water
increases across the globe, the availability of fresh water in many regions is likely to decrease
because of climate change, warns the latest edition of the United Nations’ World Water
Development Report by World Water Assessment Programme 2017. The increasing stress on
the availability of water supply sources worldwide has led government to develop wastewater
management strategies to secure the water resources by recycling or reusing the treated
wastewater (Ramprasad et al., 2017).
Ablution water was produced particularly at mosque where the ablution ritual is
performed by Muslims by washing several body parts with clean water (Suratkon et al., 2014).
The ablution ritual usually takes few minutes to be complete with continuous running of clean
water and allowing amount of water to discharge freely into drainage. The most production
time of ablution water normally on Friday prayer and it contributed to the high production of
ablution water (Mohamed et al., 2016). A significant amount of water is required daily for
Masjid Sultan Ibrahim, UTHM which can accommodate at least about 3,000 people during the
special prayer times. Masjid Sultan Ibrahim also has several facilities such as library, computer
room, seminar room, administration room and institute of Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah.

ICSET 2018 178

 Ablution water is one of the greywater and it is less contaminated (Mohamed et al, 2016)
in term of several common major parameters such as pH, Temperature, BOD, Chemical Oxygen
Demand (COD), Total coliform and E.coli (Mamun et al, 2014). It was experimental that the
mean values of the parameters were lower than the Ministry of Health (MOH) Standard for
drinking water quality in Malaysia. Nevertheless, ablution water contain bacteria from ablution
ritual which include gargle and wash certain body parts such as face, hand and feet that rise
concern for reuse purposes (Mamun et al., 2014). The types of microbiological that usually
contained in ablution water are total coliform and E.coli. The bacteria contain in ablution water
will not affect the interior of human body, but dry skin is one of the most common problems of
prolonged exposure of this type of greywater (El-naggar et al., 2015). Ibrahiem (2011) has
stated this type of greywater is useful for toilet flushing or garden irrigation after treatment. It
can be expected that disinfection method by using SoDIS system by the hepl of solar energy
should be able to kill the microorganisms.
Solar energy can be clarified when the sun radiates the energy uniformly in all direction
in the form of electromagnetic waves. When absorbed by body, it increases its temperature.
Solar energy is clean, inexhaustible, massive and renewable energy (Tiwari et al., 2003). It also
has the high potential among the all sources of renewable power and if only the small amount
of this energy could be used, this energy sources would be the most important supplies of energy
especially when other energy sources in the country have decreased (Metha et al., 2011). SoDIS
system is a method of disinfecting impure water such as ablution water by using solar energy
as a generator to turn on this system. The water that was produced by SoDIS system can be
applied to the domestic (Butler et al, 1999), industrial and agricultural sector.
SoDIS is a simple and low cost technique used to disinfect contaminated water such as
ablution water and microorganisms load in ablution water can be significantly decreased.
Researchers have shown SoDIS to be effective against a wide range of microorganisms (Byrne
et al., 2011). Photooxidation is a part of SoDIS treatment process and it is the acceleration of a
photoreaction by the presence of oxidation (McGuigan et al., 2012). The photooxidation not
only destroy a large variety of chemical contaminants in water but also cause fatal damage to
microorganisms. E. coli was the most frequently studied microorganism for water disinfection
studies (Malato et al., 2009), as it is an indicator of faecal contamination and reference for water
quality.

METHODOLOGY
The ablution water samples were collected at University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)
mosque, Batu Pahat, Johor. There were six sets of samples taken from Sultan Ibrahim Mosque.
Three sets of samples in weekdays and three sets of samples taken in weekends. The samples
in weekdays were taken on 10th September 2017, 12th September 2017 and 14th September
2017. Meanwhile, the sample in weekends were taken on 8th September 2017, 15th September
2017 and 22th September 2017. After the water sampling was taken, the water sample had been
stored in the suitable storage such as plastic container or glass container. The grab sampling
method has been followed according which is based from APHA standards 2005. The sample
was stored in the chiller at 4°C until further analysis and followed APHA standard 2015 for
preservation.
Eighteen worshippers were randomly selected to determine the flow of water consumes
by each worshiper as shown in Figure 1. Time spent on performing ablution by randomly
chosen one person is measured by stopping the watch. After completing ablution, the pipe is
left open at the same flow rate. The flow of water to a bucket at the same time is required to
perform ablution. The samples were stored in the plastic container as presented in Figure 2.

ICSET 2018 179

 Figure 1: Ablution water sample collection for each worshippers

Figure 2: Sample storage

Figure 3 illustrated SoDis system design which was created using two plastic bottles of
1.5 liters of mineral water and combined with two small bottles in the center of the design. One
1.5 liter bottle is darkened using a black spray. It is sprayed with black so that the sample water
in the blackbottle is hot during sun-dried and produces as much water as possible. While the
other bottle is left untouched. The function of the bottle is collecting water vapor. Two bottles
in the middle serve to transfer vapor from a dark bottle to the side of the bottle based
Devasagayam (2015), and it was designed with black painted container.

ICSET 2018 180

 Figure 3: Illustration of SoDis designation

Figure 4 shows the set up solar water disinfection SoDis under the sunlight. Ablution
water sample was filled into black bottle and the lid was closed to prevent foreign objects from
entering the bottle. Then, the SoDis was placed under the sun for few hours from 9 am to 5 pm
every day and observe the productivity of treated ablution water.

Figure 4: Presentation of SoDis model

The characteristic of water was carried out and parameter tested in this experiment were
pH, temperature, E. coli, Total Coliform and BOD. The lab testing can be carried out within 24
hours after water sampling. The Table1 shows the characteristic of water that will be obtained
and the method within equipment needed to conduct all laboratory tests stated.

ICSET 2018 181

 Table 1: Characteristic of water, method and standard method reference within equipment
needed to conduct the laboratory tests.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Ablution Water Production
The ablution water production was analyzed with the respected to number of worshiper as
shown in Table 2. In general, the ablution water was produced non-continuously. It usually
produced about 5 times a day during Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Ishak and Subuh prayer where they
are compulsorily performed by Muslim all around the world. This study was determining the
production of ablution water on weekdays and weekends by the number of worshiper.

Table 2: Number of worshiper per day on weekday and weekend

The result revealed that the number of worshiper during weekday much lower by 143
worshipers per day to be compared with 1,227 worshipers performed the ablution ritual per day
during weekend. The differentiation of the number of worshiper on weekday and weekend can
be verified due to the Jumaah prayer on every weekend Friday noon (Mohamed et al., 2016).
According to Suratkon et al., (2014), the number of worshiper also depending on working and
lecturer schedules at the university. However the number of worshiper at Friday noon time was
as expected.

ICSET 2018 182

 Table 3: Ablution water production by per person with respected to time

In order to determine the production of ablution water per person, 18 worshipers have
been picked to perform the ablution ritual. The quantity of ablution water production has been
recorded for each worshiper by respected to time. From the experiments conducted, average
time for a person to perform ablution ritual was 40 s by 4.4 L of ablution water produced. In
this study, the water was continuously discharged for 40 s. Some of worshipers usually will let
the water flow all over ablution ritual and some of water has been discharged directly into the
drainage without contaminants (Mohamed et al., 2016). To be compared to a study conducted
by Mohamed et al., (2016), this study was determining 5 L of ablution water produced by a
worshiper at Pintas Puding Mosque, Parit Raja Johor within 48.5 s of water flew out. It can be
verified that, the different volume of ablution water and time taken by a worshiper to perform
ablution ritual at 2 different mosques were due to the water pressure from the distribution
system (Manan et al., 2006).
From the investigation on the number of worshiper per day and the ablution water
production by a worshiper, this study revealed that 629.2 L ablution water produced per day
on weekday while 5398.8 L per day on weekend including Jumaah prayer. To avoid the
ablution water with less contaminated goes wasted, it will be a good idea to treat the ablution
water in order to transform the ablution water into treated water.

ICSET 2018 183

Effeciency of SoDis in Enhancing Ablution Water Quality
The determination of the untreated and treated ablution water quality has been presented in
Table 4. These results have responsible to reveal the efficiency of the SoDis system that has
been conducted by this study. It shows the concentration value of selected parameters of treated
ablution water were remarkable reduction of BOD and total coliform.

Table 4: Ablution water characteristic before and after treatment of ablution water using
SoDis

The removal efficiency of water quality parameters from ablution water by SoDis were
achievable. The removal efficiency of BOD and total coliform of ablution water reached
relatively satisfactory values where BOD percentage removal for the weekday was above half
with 53% while on the weekend was 50%. Comparing to the research data result from other
researcher by Mohamed et al., (2016), this study had achieved slightly high removal of BOD
by over 50% removal to be compared only 23% BOD removal from Mohamed et al., (2016).
Based on the limitation from Interim National Water Quality Standards, the BOD value was
acceptable for the Class 1V by the value of BOD below 12 mg/L. Meanwhile, the removal
percentage of total coliform were 55% for weekday and 30% for the weekend. It shows that
SoDis was capable to reduced total coliform or microorganism from the ablution water.
However, total coliform values after treatment were not achieving the Interim National Water
Quality Standards with 153 x 10^6 CFU/ml on weekday and 341 x 10^6 CFU/ml on weekend
while the standard value should be not over 0.05 x 10^6 CFU/ml.

CONCLUSION
This study is important to determine the quality of ablution water. Whether it will meet the
expectation of achieving the quality of water abscess after the restoration work is completed.
Analysis of the removal water was based on analysed parameters is pH, Temperature, E. coli,
DO, BOD and Total coliform. The quality of the ablution water Sultan Ibrahim Mosque can be
considered satisfactory in general as it fulfils the targeted expectations because the results of
the study indicate that there is no harmful substance and its readings are very similar to potable
water.
In the water quality classification, water quality parameters have been compared with the
Interim National Water Quality Standards. Based on the results and discussion of the data of
ablution water quality, the pH and DO parameter is a positive effect on ablution quality work
performed for the mosque because given the 1V class 5-9 and more than 3, it was proving that

ICSET 2018 184

water treatment can be used for irrigation activities based onInterim National Water Quality
Standards. It is that the value of BOD achieve the National Water Quality standard limit within
below 12 mg/L. in this study, the concentration of E.coli was not detected in untreated ablution
water and it can be concluded that E.coli was absent in the ablution water. However, the total
coliform value did not follow the class 1V with the value obtained after treatment was more
than 0.05 x 10^6 CFU/ml.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Special gratitude goes to the laboratory technicians at the Micropollutant Research Centre,
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), for providing the facilities for this research.
The authors are also thankful to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI)
Malaysia for providing the Science Fund grant 02-01-13-SF0135 (S029) for this research.

REFERENCES
Butler, D., & Trent, N. (1999). Water saving potential of domestic water reuse systems using greywater and
rainwater in combination. Water Science and Technology, 39(5), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0273-
1223(99)00083-9
Byrne, J. A., Fernandez-Ibañez, P. A., Dunlop, P. S. M., Alrousan, D. M. A., & Hamilton, J. W. J. (2011).
Photocatalytic enhancement for solar disinfection of water: A review. International Journal of Photoenergy, 2011.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/798051
Devasagayam, Deepak. 2015. “Solar Energy Based Purification of Sea Water – A Detailed Review.” : 835–39.
El-naggar, A. M., Al-anzi, F. S., Al-ruwaili, B. K., Al-anzi, S. S., & Al-, F. M. (2015). Characterization of the
water used for ablution , household and washing purposes in AlQurayyat , KSA, 1(4).
Ibrahiem, M., & Wabel, A. (2011). Simple system for handling and reuse of gray water resulted from ablution in
Mosques of Riyadh City , Saudi Arabia, 8, 42–45.
Malato, S., Fern??ndez-Ib????ez, P., Maldonado, M. I., Blanco, J., & Gernjak, W. (2009). Decontamination and
disinfection of water by solar photocatalysis: Recent overview and trends. Catalysis Today, 147(1), 1–59.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2009.06.018
Mamun, A. Al, & Muyibi, S. A. (2014). Advances in Environmental Biology Treatment of used ablution water
from IIUM masjid for reuse, 8(3), 558–564.
Manan, Z. A., Alwi, S. R. W., & Ujang, Z. (2006). Water pinch analysis for an urban system : a case study on
the Sultan Ismail Mosque at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia ( UTM ), 194, 52–68.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2005.11.003
McGuigan, K. G., Conroy, R. M., Mosler, H. J., du Preez, M., Ubomba-Jaswa, E., & Fernandez-Ibañez, P.
(2012). Solar water disinfection (SODIS): A review from bench-top to roof-top. Journal of Hazardous Materials,
235–236, 29–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2012.07.053.
Metha, A., Vyas, A., Bodar, N., & Lathiya, D. (2011). Design of Solar Distillation System. International Journal
of Advanced Science and Technology, 29(April), 67–74.
Radin Maya Saphira, Mohamad Nazmi Adnan, Mohd Arief Mohamed, and Amir Hashim Mohd Kassim. 2016.
“Conventional Water Filter (Sand and Gravel) for Ablution Water Treatment, Reuse Potential, and Its Water
Savings.” Journal of Sustainable Development 9(1): 35.
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jsd/article/view/50250.
Ramprasad, C., Shirley, C., Memon, F. A., & Philip, L. (2017). Removal of chemical and microbial
contaminants from greywater using a novel constructed wetland : GROW. Ecological Engineering, 106, 55–65.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.05.022
Tiwari, G. N., Singh, H. N., & Tripathi, R. (2003). Present status of solar distillation. Solar Energy, 75(5), 367–
373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2003.07.005

ICSET 2018 185