NIIST technology for treating effluents from rice mills, milk units... The National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST) has issued the patent licence for an eco-friendly technology for waste water treatment developed by it to a Kochi firm for commercialisation. Victoria Innovative Ltd., Kochi, has obtained the licence of the patent for a licence fee of ₹15 lakh, CSIR-NIIST officials said. CSIR-NIIST, at Pappanamcode here, had invented the ‘Buoyant Filter Bioreactor (BFBR).’ It is a novel high-rate anaerobic reactor for treating complex waste water and patented it a few years ago (Patent No. 242196 titled ‘A device for the biological treatment of waste water containing biodegradable solids’). According to the officials, the technology is suited for treating complex effluents generated by rice mills, ice cream plants, milk and milk product units, fish processing industries and similar units that flush out complex waste water. “This is a totally eco-friendly biological method of treating waste water with minimum running cost,” the officials said. A major research laboratory under the Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR), NIIST undertakes research projects of both basic and applied nature in a number of key areas.