The National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) is assisting the development of an industrial Wastewater Treatment System (WTS) through an academia-industry linkage to reduce operational cost and reuse decontaminated water for agriculture. Vice-Chancellor NUMS Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Muhammad Imran Majeed while appreciating the efforts of a young scientist of the university, said the development of efficient biological water purification systems for industrial wastewater would be a step forward to the commercialization of this technology for industries. The Department of Biological Sciences (DBS) at NUMS, is working hard to realize our vision of innovation for improving people’s lives, said a statement issued here on Sunday. Giving details of the research project, Dean of Multidisciplinary Studies Dr. Aisha Mohyuddin said a member of NUMS DBS Dr. Mahwish Ali, had been awarded a research grant of Rs 8.3 million, through the Technology Transfer Support Fund of the Higher Education Commission. Pakistan direly needs reclaiming of its depleting water resources and indigenously manufactured WTS can be a step in that direction. The WTS reuse wastewater after decontamination especially for agriculture and help the industry meet environmental standards, instead of dumping their waste which is polluting the country’s underground water resources. The cost of importing WTS and their running was very high, said Dr. Mahwish who has specialized in applied and environmental microbiology and holds a PhD in water management. She has garnered the financial support of a sugar mill in Sindh, who have committed to extend Rs. 14.7 million financial support to the NUMS research project. Besides, the mill would also provide both land for the installment of the system and bear its operational and maintenance cost. “The Wastewater Treatment System runs with the help of microbes and plant species,” said Dr. Mahwish. The software modeling of the system was done during her earlier research in Belgium and it can operate in all climatic conditions. The annual operational cost of this system would be Rs10 million against Rs 60 to Rs 70 million cost of the WTS currently being used by the sugar industry, she added.