Purified wastewater is perfect for brewing, according to a water utility in Oregon.
Clean Water Services operates a wastewater treatment plant with very high standards, producing exceptionally clean effluent, Fast Company reported. Because the facility dumps into a small river, the wastewater goes through a thorough process of ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, disinfection and advanced oxidation.
"When it's done, it meets and in most parts exceeds all drinking water standards," explained Mark Jockers, spokesman for Clean Water Services. "It's very similar to how potable drinking water is being made from wastewater right now in places like Texas and California."
As well as being clean enough to drink, the ultra-purified water is ideal for making beer because the water has a "blank" taste, similar to distilled water, allowing brewers to add minerals to create a certain profile.
Last year, the utility invited local brewers to make beer from the Tualatin River, using water drawn from directly behind the wastewater treatment plant.
According to Fast Company, that contest was a success and now the utility hopes to launch another pilot using 100 percent wastewater (the water in last year's experiment, diluted with river water, was only about 30 percent wastewater).
The aim is to demonstrate that we should start thinking differently about wastewater, judging the purified water on its quality rather than on its history.
Before the next stage of beer-making can begin, however, Clean Water Services will need to secure state approval because at the moment Oregon does not allow drinking water to be produced from wastewater.