In an era of drought, turning treated wastewater into drinking water may be the future. Utility companies are working with breweries to get people past the “ick factor.”
Sounds great. I ferment my own urine and dry hop it. Delish
If we’re getting technical, all water has been wastewater. For those of us that get their water supply from a river or lake, the separation from wastewater is even less. Everything is dependent upon water treatment to make it potable. You are correct that the seeming connection between the wastewater plant output and water treatment plant input is off putting, but everything in water is relative.
I personally witnessed the director of the waste water treatment plant for our city drink an 8oz glass of treated effluent whilst claiming it was perfectly safe to do so, which by federal and state EPA standards, it is. I don’t think anyone could pick out a beer made with treated wastewater in a side by side taste test.
Being on a water well and septic system I am highly aware of this, as rhe distance from my well to my septic is only about 150’ at the surface. My well draws from 250’ below the surface. The strata below ground present an effective water filter, but add hardness, which I soften and apply RO membrane to get to brewing water with TDS measurement of around 10-15
“The predominant method of wastewater disposal in large cities and towns is discharge into a body of surface water. Suburban and rural areas rely more on subsurface disposal.” (https://www.britannica.com/technology/wastewater-treatment/)
Treated wastewater goes right back into the environment anyway. So circulating it back into the white water supply might be more efficient, saving energy on pumping, etc. Just better have a robust testing & QA program.
An interesting NOVA on the subject.
Just because wastewater is treated and is safe to drink doesn’t necessarily mean it will taste great, let alone be used to brew beer. Maybe if it is passed through a RO unit, but treated implies that chemicals are added to it to disinfect it.
My daughter has a biology degree. She informed me we are ALL drinking waste water as there is no NEW water. It is just recycled. Interesting…
Watch the NOVA video referenced above. It is only a few minutes long. It shows the steps used at one wastewater treatment plant. After settling and aeration to allow bacteria to consume what they can, the water is sent through RO filters. There was no mention of chemicals being added. The term “treated” is a generic term to indicate that something has been done to the water to make it better.
And not surprising
We are brewing with Dinosaur pee!
I’ve heard reference to dinosaur pee/ we are drinking the same water as dinosaurs / etc. These statements do not take into account hydrolysis (“splitting of water”) that happens during photosynthesis in plants (and likely other places I can’t remember). Water molecules are split by plants to make carbohydrates, and then created during respiration- hydrogen and oxygen are being recombined all the time. In fact, plants are a great way to clean-up effluent.
Here you go bozos. My research/work at the Colorado school of mines is in the realm
Water goes through perpetual and continuous filtration methods. As it changes from a solid, a gas and a liquid it is being filtered continuously through different media, those being transpiration, evaporation and liquid flow through geological formations among others.
Nice presentation. I’m a Mines graduate. There wasn’t anything like that going on when I was there - only mining/mineral related subjects.
I believe the point is that there is no NEW water. For example, when it rains, this is water that’s been recycled.
This is not true. Combustion and respiration are both ways that new water molecules are made from hydrogen and oxygen. Ever see water vapor from your breath in the cold or from a tailpipe on a cold day?
So not the same molecules of water just the hydrogen and oxygen being put back into solution?
I was wondering if they R/O it (from the Times article above): “In Scottsdale, that process involves ozone infusion, microfiltration and reverse osmosis, in which water is forced across a membrane to remove dissolved minerals and other impurities. The water is then zapped with ultraviolet light. Together, these measures remove “darn near everything,” Mr. Biesemeyer said.”
I’d brew with it. Probably better quality water than what comes through my tap. Call it “Yellow River IPA” xD