Fremont Native Featured In People Magazine

FREMONT, CA — Fremont native Shreya Ramachandran, 19, was featured in People Magazine recently where she was lauded as a "water hero" for starting a nonprofit called The Grey Water Project.

Ramachandran first became aware of water scarcity during the 2015 drought when she visited Tulare County and learned that wells had run dry, forcing residents to truck in water for drinking and bathing. A short time later and half a world away, the concept was driven home while visiting her grandmother in India where a drought was also taking a toll.

The Grey Water Project teaches people to reuse water from sinks, showers, bathtubs and washing machines to flush toilets, water lawns and gardens, and irrigate crops. The program gets out the word through outreach, advocacy, and public education for school-aged children.

"Reusing grey water can save up to 11 trillion gallons of water per year in the U.S. alone," Ramachandran, now at Stanford, told People.

The young scientist received the 2019 Children's Climate Prize.

She was previously featured in Smithsonian Magazine, as well as National Geographic and The Washington Post.