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Jayashree Sanzgiri, Sakshi Ahluwalia, Kay Maria Lemos, Maclaez Vaz and Eldon Ataide, students of TY.B.Sc. Biotechnology at Parvatibai Chowgule College of Arts and Science (autonomous), won 3rd place for poster presentation on the topic “An Investigation into the Use of Biological Waste Materials in conjunction with Phytoremediation for Sustainable Treatment of Greywater” at the National Conference on “Innovation in Life Sciences for Sustainable Environment (ILSE)” organised by department of Life Sciences, Christ (deemed-to-be) University, Bangalore recently. The project competed with 90 other projects on a sustainable theme at the national level.
The project was investigated initially as a request from the principal of the college to the department of Biotechnology under the supervision of Liesl De Silva, assistant professor and department-in-charge to come up with a solution for recycling the waster produced by the canteen kitchen. The above students, along with a fellow student, Myron Rebello, carried out the groundwork for the project while they were in their Second Year of their undergraduate degree. They were also collaborating to an extent with students of ISA Lille, France who were conducting a preliminary investigation on “Low Technology Solutions for Kitchen Wastewater Treatment.”
After the completion of their initial assessment, the five students mentioned above then investigated biological waste materials such as sugarcane bagasse and coconut coir for their ability to effectively remove contaminants and other particles from the kitchen waste water produced by the canteen on campus and to use the same for irrigation purposes. The students have also set up a vertical garden which is irrigated using this recycled water.
