WCTT tech is the mantra for saving water

S Vishnu Sharmaa, INN/Chennai, @Svs037

Amidst a situation where saving water is no longer an option, Waterless Chrome Tanning Technology (WCTT) is a good choice one can say. For usage of the technology helps save lot of water.

Sources say, utilisation of WCTT in cleaning leather can save about 2 billion litres of water across the nation. Infodea went ahead to speak to J Raghava Rao, principal scientist at Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) to know more in this regard.

The technology is said to have been brought out by a team of five scientists under the leadership of Raghava Rao.

This technology also helps in reducing the pollution caused by using the traditional cleaning methods in the leather industry, says senior scientist. It has come into existence in 2017, but its utilisation is yet to become significant.

The method used to clean raw leather currently, lets out millions of litres of water that can have a negative impact on our environment as it contains harmful elements.

Chromium is used in the conventional cleaning method, water is let out without removing it as the process used to clear that is very costly. The team of scientists have taken up the work to find out a solution for this and that is how CWTT has come out.

P. Saravanan, B. Madan, P Thanigaivelan and R. Aravindan were other scientists who were a part of the team. Technology they have brought out focuses on using water inside the raw leather itself for cleaning it. Usage of this process can also save about 20 percent of the technology.

Leather industry is said to consume about 60,000 tons of chromium every year. While 70 percent of chromium is used, the rest of it is let out as waste material. Estimates point that about 24,000 tons of chromium is let out every year which costs about Rs 120 crore, says the senior scientist. The let out chromium also has toxins that can harm the environment. It is here using WCTT can help a lot.

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