The past year hasn’t been easy on the planet. Many regions have suffered from extreme weather conditions, whether that meant droughts, storms or anything in between. As we’re being confronted with such changes on our planet, more and more of us are looking for ways to turn things around or to at least don’t make them any worse. Many are recycling, some are mainly shopping second hand and a few are doing even more. Californian company Epic Cleantec is among the latter and tackling the climate crisis in a very original way: by brewing beer from recycled shower water.
When talking about climate change, water is one of the most pressing issues. As a species, we can’t live without it – everything, from what we drink to what we wear, requires water. And as droughts are getting all the more common, many of the brightest minds are breaking their head on how to resolve that issue.
OneWater Brew, a beer for which water recycling company Epic Cleantec and brewery Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company joined forces, is offering one potential solution to make sure our water supply doesn’t dry out all too soon.
We wanted to do something fun that was going to be an engaging tool to talk to people, to get them excited, but also that showcased the untapped potential of water reuse
Aaron Tartakovsky, Epic Cleantec’s co-founder and CEO
Teaser of a forthcoming segment on our @EpicCleantec OneWater Brew collaboration with @DevilsCanyon Brewing Co.
— Aaron Tartakovsky (@ATartakovsky) September 27, 2023
Excited to help move the brewing industry towards a more sustainable, water secure future.
Stay tuned for the full segment coming soon! ♻️💧🍺 pic.twitter.com/9x2EVuzI0j
The result? A kölsch-type beer. “We wanted to choose a beer that was going to be sort of more universally liked versus some of the more craft beers, like an IPA, that some people like, some people don’t”, Aaron Tartakovsky, Epic Cleantec’s co-founder and CEO, told The Guardian.
To put it concretely, Epic Cleantec gathered the greywater recycled from showers, laundry and bathroom sinks from a 40-story San Francisco apartment building, treated that water and then turned it into a beer. As it turns out, the process comes with its perks.
“A lot of times at a brewery, you turn on the tap and whatever water you get, that’s what you brew with. In our case, we have so much control over the treatment process that we were actually able to treat to tweak some of the steps to give the brewers a blank canvas”, explains the CEO.
Sadly, at this moment, the beer isn’t for sale. And it was always meant to be a “demonstration product”, urging to make people see the possibilities when it comes to greywater. The problem at this moment, according to Epic Cleantec, are the regulators, which aren’t convinced yet as they’re worried about public health issues. To be continued, without a doubt.
