Pure Water Brew Competition: Homebrewers make beer using water downstream from Oregon wastewater treatment plant

Clean Water Services is the water resources management utility for more than 542,000 residents in urban Washington County, Ore., and small portions of Multnomah County. Combining science, nature and even fun (as you’ll see), the utility aims to keep its watershed sustainable, returning clean water to the Tualatin River so it can be used again. It does this in innovative ways — like The Pure Water Brew Competition — which is the first-ever challenge to homebrewers to create the best tasting suds with water drawn from the Tualatin River immediately downstream from one of Oregon’s largest wastewater treatment plants.

Clean Water Services shared a new video last week that follows the progress of the Pure Water Brew competition, from water collection and purification to brewing and judging. Last week, the top four beers were featured at the WateReuse Association’s One Water Innovations Gala in New Orleans as part of WEFTEC, the Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference.

The competition was a unique public/private collaboration of the Oregon Brew Crew, Clean Water Services and Carollo Engineers, to get people talking about water.

In June, 1,000 gallons of water were pulled from the Tualatin River immediately downstream from Clean Water Services’ wastewater treatment facility, where the flow is 30 percent effluent. The water was put through Clean Water Services’ high purity water treatment system to clean it above and beyond drinking water standards. After purification, the water was offered to Portland-area homebrewers who used it to brew beer for the Oregon Brew Crew’s groundbreaking Pure Water Brew competition. Thirteen brewers crafted 16 styles of beer.

Sponsors of the competition are Carollo Engineering, a national environmental engineering firm that produces water treatment systems, and the Oregon Brew Crew, one of the oldest and largest homebrewing associations in the country. Learn more by watching the video above.