This Water Company Wants to Turn Sewage into Beer

A water service in Hillsboro, OR, is said to have an advanced water treatment process that is capable of turning sewage water into drinking water. Going a step further, Clean Water Services of Hillsboro wants to showcase their treatment plants by turning the sewage into beer.

Yep, sewage beer.

Obviously, the state of Oregon has some reservations about this.

To compromise, Clean Water Services has requested to give its purified sewage water to a group of home brewers, the Oregon Brew Crew. The group will then brew small batches of the recycled beer and serve them only at events, not at its brewery.

A public hearing will be held regarding the proposal on February 12. If approved, CWS will still need to go through a few more approval processes from the state before the beer is given the OK for consumption. This is the first time the a state is considering giving its residents permission to consume sewage water.

The water treatment process utilizes three methods to purify the sewage: ultra-filtration, reverse osmosis and enhanced oxidation. Ultra-filtration filters the water through tiny pores, reverse osmosis passes the water through a membrane intended to block chemicals from passing through and enhanced oxidation uses ultra-violet light and an oxidizing chemical to break down contaminating factors in the sewage.

After the water is purified, it’s simply a matter of brewing up some beer. We’re more than sure if placed in front of a beer elitist, they’ll be happy to try it.