Startup met with unexpected response after releasing new line of beer made with recycled shower water: 'A lot of it was psychology'

Many people understand that water doesn't spring afresh from taps and that it's been part of the planet's water cycle for billions of years.

That drinking water isn't typically "new" is, however, conceptually abstract, whereas the intentional consumption of recycled wastewater can reasonably be called a confrontational proposition.

But…what if that recycled wastewater was beer?

According to CNBC, Epic Cleantec, a clean water startup, decided to stake a "curious bet" on that gambit, turning treated shower and laundry water into IPAs and lagers.

If that sounds like a game of Would You Rather, that's kind of the point.

Epic Cleantec got its start in 2015 as a wastewater recycling company, using proprietary methods to recycle grey water from apartment and commercial buildings. As CNBC noted, CEO Aaron Tartakovsky insisted it was time to "overhaul our flush and forget society."

Ten years on, Tartakovsky has extensive firsthand insight into the public's "out of sight, out of mind" view of recycled water — which, in turn, inspired the idea of a recycled-wastewater beer, vis-à-vis a strategy most parents know well.

The Environmental Protection Agency vouches for the process in question, called potable water reuse. While the EPA is authoritative, Tartakovsky thought beyond bland assurances.

"A lot of it was psychology. It is getting people comfortable with the concept of recycled water. And we found that if you tell people that the water is clean, maybe they trust you, maybe they don't," he said. "But you take those exact same molecules of recycled water, put them into a beautiful beer can, all of a sudden, people love it."

Epic Cleantec's website makes clear the focus was less on beer and more on destigmatizing treated water, an effusive labor of love with enthusiasm vibrating off the page.

Would you live in a house made of beer waste? Sign me up 👍 Only if it saves me money 💰 Only if it looks good 😎 No way 👎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"With advanced treatment technologies, recycled water is not only safe to drink but is often even cleaner than many sources of water we commonly consume," the startup explained in a section about water quality.

An array of treatment steps, including "filters, biological treatment, membrane filtration, granular activated carbon, reverse osmosis, and disinfection," per CNBC, has led to colorful varieties named after their origins: Shower Hour IPA and Laundry Club Kölsch.

Epic Cleantec's innovative wastewater beer isn't brand-new — the startup was brewing by 2023, but back then, regulations restricting the use of grey water meant the brand could only give the beverage away rather than sell it.

The firm partnered with Devil's Canyon Brewing Co. to produce its uniquely sustainable beer, and now it's available for purchase in Alaska, Oregon, California, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Washington, D.C.

While it's early, doubters such as Jordan Langer, an events company CEO, have become converts. Langer now serves Epic Cleantec's beers at its events.

"I was a little bit skeptical. I'm not a believer in gimmicks. But I was wrong. It blew up like crazy," Langer told CNBC. 

Tartakovsky reiterated Epic Cleantec's obsession with scaling water reuse.

"Buildings use about 15% of all the fresh water on this planet. We need to do things differently, and that means we need to tell the story differently. We need to engage people differently," he said.

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