• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Research and Development Laboratory for the improvement of wastewater from sugar-related industries (SRI RnD Lab), worth P5 million, will be inaugurated tomorrow, Oct. 1, at the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP) Visayas in Talisay City.
Funded under the Institution Development Program (IDP) of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), the project aims to strengthen the capability of the university, its faculty, and staff to do research activities related to water and wastewater treatment from sugar-related industries.
The DOST-PCIEERD, in a media brief, said that Negros has 12 operational sugar mills and eight distilleries. “These industries produce wastewaters that can cause pollution and environmental problems if not properly addressed and regulated.”
It added that the project, with Noriel Seduco as lead, has partnered with the Sagay Central Inc. and the Talisay local government unit.
The TUP Visayas also has several ongoing institutionally-funded research projects and undergraduate research studies that are related to water and wastewater treatment technologies.
These include the treatment of distillery wastewater using chitosan derived from Negros blue crab shells, wastewater quality assessment in Northern Negros sugar mill district and its effects on the environment, pilot-scale adsorption column for odor and color reduction in distillery spent wash using calcined dolomite as adsorbent medium;
Baseline assessment of groundwater quality in upland barangays of Talisay City, assessment of water quality from solar-powered water systems in far-flung barangays in Negros Occidental, and BOD reduction of distillery spent wash using activated carbon derived from madre de cacao treated with calcium chloride.
The DOST-PCIEERD leads in the formulation of policies, plans, and programs, and in the implementation of strategies in the industry, energy, and emerging technology sectors through several science and technology programs.
The DOST-PCIEERD Institution Development Program, meanwhile, provides funding support in the establishment and upgrading of research laboratories and facilities of academic and research institutions, and in areas where there is lack of research expertise and/or facilities.
This year, 60 IDP projects have been funded, amounting to P312 million, with 16 labs in the Visayas, 30 in Luzon, and 14 in Mindanao. | CGC
