MAKKAH — It takes just 55 minutes to clean the entire Grand Mosque complex, according to officials in charge of the mosque cleaning. During the holy month of Ramadan, the entire mosque in washed right after the Maghrib prayer to make it clean and sanitary for pilgrims and visitors to pray, said a source in the cleaning department. The mosque has built-up area of 388,375 sq. meters, in addition to the 17,540 sq. meter mataf (circumambulation area around the Holy Kaaba). "It takes only 20 minutes to clean and wash the mataf. This means a sq. meter area is washed in less than 13 seconds despite the crowdedness of the area,” said the source. The source said only a sparing amount of water is used in the cleaning process. “The cleaners only use 400 liters of water for every 5,000 sq. meters. This means a single liter of water washes 12.5 sq. meters. They also collect an average of 98 tons of waste on a daily basis during Ramadan,” said the source. The source also said the cleaners dispose of 60 percent of the waste within 45 minutes — at the rate of a ton of waste each minute — before the Isha prayer, a stupendous task considering the condensed crowds in the area. “The Grand Mosque uses the latest and most advanced technologies when cleaning it. The cleaners quickly move around with vacuums with strong suction power, hoses with powerful propellers and brooms that can clean every nook and cranny,” said the source. The source said the cleaners depend more on floor cleaning vehicles than brooms as brooms can drag dirt and waste along with it to other areas. “The Grand Mosque designed a special floor cleaning vehicle for its needs, which is also used in the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah. The vehicle gathers up to 245 liters of waste and it does not take up a lot of space. It is also less time-consuming, easy to operate and more hygienic,” said the source.
