The Assessment Of Current 'As Built' Condition And Improvement Of Future Design Of Mosque's Water Closet
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Date
2018-10-01
Authors
Mohamad Nazir, Amni Umirah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The water closet is an old expression to the toilet. It should include all defecation,
urinal, showering and washing facilities. It also refers to water closet cubicle, wash
hand basin, shower and all related facilities in the water closet. In Malaysia, there no
specific guidelines focusing in mosque water closet facilities and design. A mosque
design including its water closet should demonstrate sustainable soundness in design
concepts, design requirements, design guidelines, scale, and function. It should
provide convenient spaces for all attendees, including the disabled, elderly and
children. Ironically, the communal ancillary spaces such as a water closet was
frequently ignored. Therefore, this study focuses on mosque water closet and aims at
accessing the “as-built” water closet conditions and compared it against Malaysian
standards, guidelines, and legislation. Percentage of Compliance and Cleanliness
Index were develop based on multicriteria assessment, while the possible causal
relationships between water closet cleanliness and condition of microbial
contaminants were identified. Based on Percentage Compliance and Cleanliness
Index of thirty (31) selected mosques at Pulau Pinang, Melaka, and Perlis, MQS12
reported the highest percentage of compliance (64%) while another thirteen out of
thirty-one mosques achieve the acceptable compliance level for water closet design
and facilities. Meanwhile, Cleanliness Index (CI), MQS03 recorded the highest,
which scored “Good” cleanliness level (83%). Then, the causal relation between
Cleanliness Index and microbial contaminants shows that four mosques which
recorded higher bacterial contaminants (exceeding the allowable limit of ICOP) has
“Not Satisfied” and “Bad” cleanliness level. This may be due to improper design of
facilities, which could lead to lower cleanliness index. The new layout which
contains three basic facilities (ablution area, water closet cubicle and water closet for
disabled) were developed to improve satisfaction level of disabled user with
increasing safety and demands of Muslim users. Generally, 50% of mosques has
provided minimum compliance on facilities and design, with none scored maximum.
The ‘as built’ water closet did not fully comply with Malaysian standards, guidelines
and legislation. Cleanliness of water closet could have an effect of microbial growth
in the main prayer hall via direct contact of ‘not very clean’ human hand after
visiting water closet to the carpet at the main prayer hall. Upgraded design and
facilities for water closet being proposed as drawings and modification has shown
some positive response from the users hence giving a good ‘signal’ that upcoming
water closet should be designed and built with these new features to ensure better
conditions in our mosques.