Just changing taps helped UAE mosque save gallons of water

ABU DHABI - Just by changing taps in the ablution area, a mosque in UAE has saved over 15,000 gallons of water a month.

Dubai’s Abu Hamed Al Gazali Mosque recorded significant saving of water after installing 20 self-closing taps in the ablution area.

Gulf News reported that the consumption of water dropped by over 15,000 gallons of water in a month - an overall saving of 30 percent.

Grohe, a German bathroom fixtures firm, donated 20 self-closing taps to the mosque.

“The taps were only installed in the men’s ablution areas, but already we could see a serious saving of water. If the women’s wash area was also fitted out, the savings could be even more,” Tawfiq Halabi, project manager with Grohe, was quoted as saying.

The taps can be adjusted to flow for up to seven, 15 or 30 seconds that limits the amount of water used in the mosque’s ablution areas. After the expired time, the water flow stops automatically without the user needing to turn it off.

From a high consumption of 45,509 gallons in a month, the mosque reduced its water consumption to 30,205 gallons with the new taps, the media report said.

Water consumption in the country is one of the highest in the world at around 550 litres per person each year.