Contest Inspires Home-brewers to Make Beer from Wastewater

Return to AWR Summer 2015

by Nejlah Hummer, Montgomery & Associates Summer Writing Intern at the WRRC

The phrase “toilet to tap” has taken on a whole new meaning in Oregon. Oregon Brew Crew (OBC), the state’s oldest home beer-brewing club, has formed an unlikely partnership with Clean Water Services, a water resources management utility that runs 4 wastewater treatment plants in the Portland area. Together they are turning recycled wastewater into beer. The duo is sponsoring the second annual Pure Water Brew Sustainable Beer Challenge, an event that breaks new ground by requiring contestants to use recycled wastewater as the base for their home-brews. 

The water used for the “sewage brewage” is sourced from the Tualatin River directly downstream from one of Clean Water Services’ wastewater treatment plants. After being extracted from the river, the wastewater is treated using a 3-step advanced treatment process, which includes ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and advanced oxidation, or UV light treatment. The end result is crisp, ultra-purified water that has a distilled-like quality. This is an exciting prospect for home-brewers, who see the ultra-pure, recycled water as a blank slate full of possibilities. OBC member Jeremie Landers told the Oregonian, “In this case, the water we’ll be using is cleaner than tap water you’d ever find anywhere. The purity level is incredible.” 

Despite the fact that Clean Water Services’ recycled water exceeds Oregon’s drinking water purity  standards, getting approval to use it for the beer competition was challenging. Current Oregon regulations only allow recycled wastewater to be used for irrigation and wetland recharge, but not for drinking purposes. In April, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality granted Clean Water Services and OBC special permission to serve the beer at events only, but not to sell it in bars. 

While there are clear benefits to using the highly-purified water from a brewer’s standpoint, the true purpose of the contest is to raise awareness about the issue of water scarcity and to help change the public’s negative perception about drinking recycled wastewater. Art Larrance, Oregon’s godfather of craft brewing and the inspiration for the project, told Clean Water Services, “Some of us have these perceived notions in our mind about where this water has been before. And so if we can brew beer and drink this water, that’s gonna give people a strong inclination of maybe using this water for other purposes.” Clean Water Services spokesman Mark Jockers hopes that this competition will be the first step in expanding the use of recycled wastewater for drinking purposes in Oregon. In an interview with Oregon Public Radio, Jockers said, “What we’re really trying to do here is start a conversation about the nature of water, and there’s no better way to start a conversation than over a beer.”

Clean Water Services will distribute 300 gallons of purified recycled wastewater to approximately 25 OBC home-brewers on June 26th. The second annual Pure Water Brew Sustainable Beer Challenge will take place at the end of August, and the winners will take their prize kegs to the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference in Chicago later this year.