American Water (NYSE: AWK), the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, today announced that Parul Baranwal, a doctoral student at the University of Toledo, has been chosen as the recipient of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) 2021 American Water Scholarship. The scholarship is an annual award of $5,000 presented to a graduate level student to assist with the development of professionals interested in service to the water industry.

"American Water is pleased to present this prestigious award to Parul, who was selected among 80 outstanding applicants," said Dr. Zia Bukhari, principal scientist, water & wastewater research at American Water. "By attracting scholars to the field of water research, which is vital to the future of our business, we hope to develop and tap their talent for the long-term benefit of our communities and the environment. We are honored to help Parul advance her research studies."

Parul was selected for this scholarship due to her exceptional academic abilities, outstanding character, community and outreach experience and dedication to contribute to the advancement of science in the field of drinking water. She is a doctoral student in Environmental Engineering at the University of Toledo. Parul developed a passion teaching STEM education to underprivileged girls in her native India and through her success hopes to inspire more girls to follow her footsteps into engineering. As an international student, she has faced many challenges, but remains committed to her research on cyanobacteria and helping the millions of people who rely on Lake Erie for drinking water.

Parul earned her undergraduate degree in Biotechnology from Dr. MGR Educational and Research Institute in India and was accepted into a prestigious graduate program at the Indian Institute of Technology specializing in Environmental Management. Upon completion of her PhD, Parul hopes to establish a non-profit organization where she can create opportunities for environmental engineering students to travel to isolated and underprivileged communities, so they can use their knowledge and experience to help design cleaner, more efficient water and wastewater treatment facilities.

Administered by AWWA, American Water's Scholarship is currently the only one offered by a water utility among the Association’s 16 active scholarships. For more information about AWWA scholarships, visit http://www.awwa.org/membership/get-involved/student-center/awwa-scholarships.aspx.

About American Water

With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to 15 million people in 46 states. American Water provides safe, clean, affordable and reliable water services to our customers to help make sure we keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit amwater.com and follow American Water on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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