India, Feb. 27 -- Every summer, as water tankers line up outside housing societies and complaints over dry taps grow louder, a 16-year-old in Gurugram has taken charge and demonstrated how a small, well-planned intervention can conserve nearly 1,000 litres of freshwater a day within a single housing complex.

Gouraansh Sethi, a Class 11 student of The Shri Ram School, Aravali, developed "Project Piyau," a greywater reuse system at his Central Park residence. The initiative recycles water from sinks, showers, washbasins and laundry outlets for non-potable purposes such as flushing, gardening and maintenance. Greywater, unlike sewage, can be safely reused after basic treatment.

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority felicitated Se...