In a first for Pakistan, students of the Aligarh Institute of Technology (AIT) have developed an ablution water recycling system aimed at conserving water and addressing the growing environmental challenges facing the country.
The project, titled Nahr Al Khair (River of Goodness), has been installed at Jamia Masjid Ali in the Buffer Zone area of the metropolis. It seeks to prevent the wastage of water used for ablution (wuzu) by recycling it through a scientifically designed, three-stage filtration process.
The system has been developed by a group of students, named Omar Ayan Abbas, Muhammad Tabrez, Muhammad Khizr, Muhammad Shayan, Muhammad Naseem, Abu Bakr, Syed Hassan, Muhammad Huzaifa, Owais Qureshi, Muhammad Zubair, Sheikh Shahzad, Syed Ammar, Muhammad Alian, Abdullah Faisal, Ali Abbas Rizvi, Syed Zulfiqar Ali, Syed Zain Ali, Syed Hamza, and Ayan, under the guidance of Engineer Syed Muhammad Saad.
The filtration plant comprises three tanks. The first tank contains natural filtering materials, including coarse and fine stones, gravel, and charcoal, to remove solid waste and larger particles. The second tank helps filter out smaller pollutants and impurities, while the final tank enables the cleaned water to seep into the ground through soil absorption and existing boreholes, thereby contributing to groundwater recharge.
Experts believe the system offers a sustainable solution to the country’s worsening water crisis. The students say the project is a small step towards promoting water conservation and environmental awareness at the community level.
