--- title: "Yum! Environmentally Friendly Beer Made From Used Shower Water" description: "A water recycling firm teamed up with a Northern Californian brewery to create the Epic OneWater Brew, a beer made from recycled greywater." date: "2023-05-04" modified: "2023-05-04" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/beer-shower-water" categories: - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "beer" - "greywater" - "the digest" - "water" --- # Yum! Environmentally Friendly Beer Made From Used Shower Water ![A water recycling firm teamed up with a Northern Californian brewery to create the Epic OneWater Brew, a beer made from recycled greywater.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Greywater Fresh If you want a refreshing, environmentally-friendly beverage — but don't necessarily want to go all the way to [Bill Gates' fecal sludge water route]() — we might have just the thing. It's called the Epic OneWater Brew, and it's a kölsch-style beer that, [according to the *Guardian*](), is made from recycled wastewater. Crafted as a collaboration between a San Francisco water recycling company called Epic Cleantec and the Northern California-based beermaker Devil's Canyon Brewing Company, the Epic OneWater Brew was reportedly made from greywater — in short, wastewater from dishes, laundry, and bathroom shower and sinkwater — from a 40-story apartment complex in San Francisco. "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, told the *Guardian*. ## "Drinkable" Apparently, the beverage is pretty tasty. Matthew Canton, the *Guardian* writer who tested the beer, described it as "pleasant," "crisp" and "drinkable," with "no notes of shower or laundry." That's already about ten steps above the might-as-well-be-dishwater that is Keystone Light, so it feels like a win for everyone. "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," he added, speaking to the choice to create a crowd-pleasing kölsch-style beer. "I think a lot of people... were skeptical about the project or were hesitant to try it," Tartakovsky told the *Guardian*, "but I would say 99 percent who came in feeling a little bit apprehensive, once they tried it, got really excited." If you might be worried at all about the safety of drinking recycled water, Tartakovsky argues that Epic's product might actually be safer for consumers than other beers due to the rigorous testing process that they require. "A lot of times at a brewery, you turn on the tap and whatever water you get, that's what you brew with," he continued. "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." All in all, the Epic OneWater Brew sounds like a creative way to tackle our [ever-worsening water crisis](). And if we're all honest with ourselves, most of us could probably say that, when it comes to beer, we've likely had worse. **More on eco-friendly drinks:** [*Bless This Startup That's Turning Horrible Co2 Emissions into Delicious Vodka*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()