Sustainability is one of the core values and major aims of CURLIM. One of our major concerns is the ongoing growth of heavy metal toxicity among human beings, flora and fauna, and the environment. Our central goal is to address these issues by promoting sustainability and addressing these shortcomings. Our aim is to promote enough awareness among people, especially people working in places like sewages, mines, and factories that deal with heavy metals regularly. Our focus will be primarily on good health and wellness, clean water and sanitation, life below water, and Industry and innovation, and infrastructure.
The National Organization of Rare Diseases (NORD) has classified long-term exposure to cadmium as a cause of concern because of the disruptive nature of cadmium. Cadmium is known to cause liver, lung, and kidney failure. Extreme exposure can result in cancer. Cadmium can be found in a variety of everyday products, including electroplating, storage batteries, vapour lamps, etc. A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives by researchers at USC, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington concluded that cadmium was more difficult to excrete. Cadmium, in fact, begins to accumulate and cause havoc in organs over the period.
Our primary goal is to raise awareness about healthy and happy living. We organized an outreach program in Edwards Elliot Beach, Chennai, as part of our initiative. Our team educated the general public about heavy metals, their sources, and their toxicity. More information can be found on our Education And Communication page. Most of the heavy metals are released into water bodies. These heavy metals are absorbed by the flora and fauna in these water bodies. Fishes get affected by heavy metal poisoning and flora like corals start dying. Most of the fishes are consumed by humans and other animals, this cycle of consumption of heavy metals directly or indirectly keeps going on and can affect people. Cadmium is more mobile in aquatic environments than other heavy metals, so there is an increasing need for a feasible method to remove it from industrial effluent. Team REC - CHENNAI’s project ‘CURLIM’ intends to reduce exposure to cadmium toxicity in industrial wastewater. We are developing a biological system with longer life, by genetically engineering E. Coli biofilm with suffused phosphate enzyme to eradicate heavy metals from industrial effluents.
Clean water and sanitation are basic human rights. It is extremely important that every single person has access to clean water and basic fundamental rights. But the unfortunate is that many people do not have access to clean water and as a result develop various health problems. Most of the waste water treatments do not remove the presence of heavy metals completely, and when this water is consumed on a longer period of time, can cause adverse health effects. It is important for technology to get advanced while performing water treatments that can remove all components that can cause potential harm. The same remains for sewage. Proper sewage treatment is extremely important. A lot of diseases can be spread from ill-management of sewage. Clean water and sanitation are a major part of human rights and no one should be deprived of those. Waste water and sanitation could be considered interrelated to each other, as sanitation is the process that mitigates the potential risks and harms caused to humans through waste water.
Every individual has the basic right to access clean water and sanitation facilities, yet it is truly regrettable that many people lack these necessities. The issue is that most of the wastewater treatments do not properly remove heavy metals, which has detrimental health impacts. We fully comprehended that advancing research also entails addressing environmental risks and making a positive impact on people's quality of life. Given this, the goal of our project CURLIM is to eliminate cadmium from the effluents. The project's crucial feature is that the removed cadmium exists as an easily separable precipitate in the form of Cadmium Phosphate, which will aid our effort in bringing about a better way of life and helping to improve sanitation and clean water and prevent further pollution.
The development and progress of a country especially in terms of the economy depends on the growth of its industries, infrastructure, and promotion of innovation in different technological services. When it comes to industry, infrastructure, and innovation in the water industry, several advancements are taking place in the treatment of wastewater. People and many global enterprises including government agencies are starting to invest in the manufacture of different tools and techniques that will aid in the development of new waste water management technology. One such example is the advancement in cutting edge tech like microbial fuel cells for simultaneous wastewater and electricity generation. This SDG aims to ensure technological progress in various countries to present solutions for the challenges they are facing in accordance to the economic and environmental issues. Our hopes are mainly towards inventing and contributing to the invention of new technology that can help eradicate the presence of all heavy metals and toxic substances present in wastewater effluents and thus helping people lead a happy and healthy life. The team Curlim has initial plans to scale up our project and in this aspect, have discussed with the leading professors from our institution on ways to bring our initiative to life in a cost efficient, energy efficient and one that satisfies customer satisfaction. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, which is applicable to our nation, was another process we had to go through to learn the effluent discharge limits. In order to avoid the inconvenience that comes with other reactors, the team created a Moving Bed Bioreactor that is Sustainable, cost effecient and can provide good results. Because of its adaptable but effective design, the bioreactor can be used successfully for wastewater treatment in small-scale companies. Other heavy metals can also be remediated with the MBBR. Due to its minimal energy and material requirements, the industrial infrastructure we've proposed is a practical way to get rid of heavy metals. The construction of this infrastructure will not only benefit the environment by reducing pollution and the ecological impact, but it will also provide a large number of job opportunities.
The aquatic life under our water bodies make up a huge percentage life. This aquatic life can consist of various marine fishes, sharks & whales, marine plants and other organisms. With this polluted waste water being released into water bodies, it can drastically alter the ecological conditions of that water body and affect the overall behavior of the life sustained by it. As human beings, it is our responsibility to ensure that our treasured marine life is protected from any type of activity that can create a negative impact. Though filtration and current treatment methods of waste water exist, they seem to not remove all the harmful chemicals and heavy metals that seem to create the negative balance. Thus arises a need for innovation to arise and develop technologies using various elements pertaining to science to help develop advancements that can safely remove all harmful agents and not damage the marine life and environment. Our project “Curlim” tries to reduce the effects of bio-magnification and mitigation in our aquatic ecosystem
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