One day in November 2014, Bill Gates stood in front of a large car, waiting for a glass of clean water to pour from faucet, and then without hesitation raised his glass to take a sip, surrounded by applause and whistles.

5 minutes before he drank it, glass of water was still sewage sludge containing human excrement, and water vapor had not yet separated from solid waste. The machine behind has completed this process and will help more developing countries without access to clean water.

Singapore, one of most developed economies in world, is also a place with scarce fresh water resources as well as sewage.

This April, NEWBrew, a "sewage beer" hitting stores in Singapore, is a collaboration between the Singapore Water Authority (PUB) and local craft brewery Brewerkz.

Will it go unnoticed?

On contrary, Brewerkz restaurants are currently selling out first batch of NEWBrew, and supermarket stocks are expected to run out by end of July.

Recycled eau de toilette beer sold out

I can't drink it, it's made from eau de toilette. I don't mind if it's in fridge. I mean, it tastes like beer, and I like beer.

Several locals who tasted NEWBrew found it refreshing and soothing, in keeping with Singapore's tropical climate. Before drinking it, they didn't know difference in water he used, but after revealing answer, they didn't mind taking another sip.

▲ Image courtesy of: vimeo@Dervish

Perhaps this is due to fact that water used by NEWBrew is well known in Singapore - NEWater (new water).

Newater is PUB's brand of reclaimed drinking water, first introduced to market in 2003.

▲The Prime Minister also drank at time

Wastewater treatment plants are responsible for collecting municipal waste water and separating easily removed impurities. About 60% of water is discharged into sea, and rest is sent to NEWater plant.

▲ Image from: Bloomberg

In order to make wastewater drinkable, treatment process at NEWater plant basically consists of three steps:

Firstly, microfiltration or ultrafiltration using membranes to filter out smallest particles and bacteria; secondly, reverse osmosis, semi-permeable membrane used has very small pores and allows only water molecules to pass through, thereby removing contaminants such as viruses. water can already be imported; thirdly, disinfection with ultraviolet radiation ensures inactivation of all organisms and guarantees the purity of water.

▲ Image from: PUB

While NEWater water is potable, it is mainly used for non-potable purposes such as industrial production. Users such as waffle factories have even stricter water quality requirements than drinking water, and NEWater purity is high enough to help them save a lot of money.

The rest of NEWater will be added to reservoir during dry season, mixed with raw tap water, treated with tap water, and then distributed to thousands of households through taps to become part of drinking water.

▲ Photo: Xinhua News Agency

Why does Singapore reuse wastewater?

Due to limited land area for collecting and storing rainfall, as well as lack of natural aquifers and lakes, fresh water resources in Singapore are scarce. How to ensure long-term water security has always been a "big challenge" for Singapore. government.

Currently, Singapore mainly uses four water sources, or "four national taps", one of which is NEWater, and other three are local water collection, imported water and desalination.

In 2019, NEatat provided 40% of Singapore's water needs, and PUB plans to increase this figure to 50% by 2060.

While NEWBrew looks promising, Brewerkz wants to wait and see before making a decision to continue production.

After all, not everyone can accept unclean beer.

NEWBrew had no advantage in a survey conducted by a New Zealand sewer company. Given a choice, most people would naturally choose more common beer.

This is not what PUB wants to see. PUB, as a department of water management, is also responsible for public relations.

The name NEWater has ulterior motives. It deliberately avoids words with a negative connotation, such as "sewage" or "sewage".

The NEWater factory has also set up a visitor center suitable for all ages, where visitors can see how each step is done and take part in fun educational activities.

Whether it's NEWater or NEWBrew, PUB hopes to convince public that "after treatment, water is just water."

Sewer beer, commonplace

In past, more common way to conserve water was to convert wastewater into non-potable water, such as irrigation water.

But in last decade, world's freshwater supplies have come under increasing pressure. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that 2.7 billion people around world suffer from water shortages for at least one month of year.

Wastewater "turns over and sings", and idea of ​​recycling sewage into drinking water is increasingly coming to life.

▲ Image from: CNET

In addition to Singapore, sewage beer is also appearing in US, Canada, Sweden and other countries. It is typically produced jointly by breweries, water treatment technology companies, and municipal wastewater treatment departments, but it can also be completed individually.

In 2015, American wastewater engineer Thira Ratarasarn brewed beer at home using water from a wastewater treatment plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The water is not dirty, but not clean enough to drink.

Brewing your own beer is as easy as it sounds: boil wort, add hops, chill, add yeast, ferment.

Because it uses water from a wastewater treatment plant, there are six more steps: chlorination, dechlorination, filtration, distillation, testing, and nutrient addition. The final product scored 7 out of 10 on taste test.

Thira Ratarasarn hopes to change prejudice against quality of factory wastewater on his own, but in order not to remind and completely "draw line" with sewage, he brews a lighter-colored wheat beer instead of a darker porter or stout.

In 2019, water treatment technology company Xylem and a wastewater treatment plant in Berlin jointly launched Reuse Brew.

CNET reporter Andrew Gebhart was "lucky" to see entire wastewater treatment process, and at first he felt like he was in "a room where a million people just went to toilet."

Wastewater treatment plants produce 97% enough water to be diverted to some groundwater sources or used in agriculture.

To achieve potability, remaining 3% is recycled by Xylem, which includes steps such as creating ozone to break down chemical waste into molecules, ultraviolet light to destroy chemicals, and carbon filters to remove 99.999% of contaminants.

▲ Image from: CNET

Hugo once compared a city's sewers to a city's conscience, but they can also contain city resources.

As Joe Vesey, former director of marketing at Xylem, said:

Most cities are overly dependent on a single source of water, and many places face water shortages, either due to water availability or pollution. Municipalities may pay to import clean water or sea water, but both are much more expensive than just washing sewage, natural supply of any city.

Similarly, in 2018, a brewery in Stockholm, Sweden, in collaboration with Swedish Institute for Environmental Sciences (IVL), developed "PU:REST" beer using water from Henriksdal wastewater treatment plant. At time, IVL stated:

"People should not be thinking about finding safe water sources, but about creating safe water sources. Our recycled water technology produces treated wastewater that is at least as good and safe as regular tap water." water."

After seeing this, you might be wondering why a form of "impurity" often ends up in mouth with beer?

Beer is one of oldest alcoholic beverages in world. When West did not know effects of boiling water, there was an old saying: "Water can kill, but beer can not."

Writer Stephen Berlin Johnson mentioned in Map of Death: How Plague of London Changed Modern City and World:

The search for clean drinking water is as old as civilization itself. Once large population centers emerge, waterborne diseases such as dysentery become a major population bottleneck. For most of human history, solution to this chronic public health problem has not been water purification, but alcohol.

The phenomenon of drinking wine like water is a summary of experience under unknown.

It is commonly said that point is not that wine is more hygienic than water, but that yeast can only reproduce and complete fermentation when water is relatively clean, and other microorganisms cannot survive in an environment where yeast predominates. It is easy to distinguish the smell of wine with lots of bacteria and bad brewing, while it is difficult for people to know if raw water is safe.

▲ Image taken from chinadaily

At very least, whether beer is safer or not, it has historical and psychological benefits. Drinking "sewage beer" seems more acceptable than drinking treated sewage directly.

Of course, you can also drink neither.

Not only to treat wastewater, but to use every drop of water

In Singapore, water is a matter of life and death, and PUB acts as a gatekeeper to ensure Singapore has a sustainable and efficient water supply.

In 1970s, Singapore began to consider reusing water to improve its supply of fresh water, and in 2016 Bloomberg reported that Singapore had achieved water self-sufficiency.

NEatat is not only thing Singapore is doing in this process.

Remember Singapore's "four-touch" system? In fact, to increase water supply of remaining three "faucets", thereby reducing dependence on imported water.

By middle of 21st century, NEWater and desalination are projected to provide 80% of Singapore's water needs, with rest coming from local catchment.

In addition, since 2006, PUB has been promoting Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) program for more than a decade, developing reservoirs, integrating drainage ditches, canals, reservoirs with environment and improving streams. , state of rivers and lakes, as well as improve the quality of life of residents.

"Open source" is very important, and "throttling" applies to everyone as well.

On one hand, PUB has a lot of mandatory water saving programs, and key word is "efficiency".

From January 2015, large non-residential water users with an annual consumption of 60,000 m3 or more must install private water meters and submit a Water Efficiency Management Plan to PUB annually. PUB learns from it how different industries use water and develops more targeted protection measures.

In April 2017, PUB launched "Water Efficiency Label Program". Faucets, washing machines, dishwashers, urinal flush valves, etc. must be labeled with water efficiency labels. Eliminate directly. Since then, sales of water-saving washing machines have skyrocketed.

At same time, PUB limits overflow of faucets, drain valves, etc., ensuring that every drop of water is used intelligently.

On other hand, PUB also offers many rewarding activities aimed at showing individual or collective strength.

Water Wally, PUB's official mascot, was launched in August 2005. He looks like a blue drop of water with a happy mood. Dance", elementary school students will also receive a timer and an activity booklet.

It is worth mentioning that National University of Singapore and PUB conducted a study in 2016. Participants in study could see water consumption of smart shower equipment in real time and receive various estimates.

At end of study, each person used 5 liters less water per day, saving about 20% on water, which could help a household save about 3% on their water bill per month.

Since 2007, Watermark Awards have been presented annually in recognition of outstanding contribution of individuals or organizations to sustainability of Singapore's water resources.

One of winners, Keefa Elementary School, is equipped with an automatic shut-off delay faucet, replaces liquid soap with foam soap, regularly monitors for water spikes, and encourages entire school to report water. leakage and release of water in shortest possible time. Water management boundaries.

Water management expert Asit K. Biswas stated:

The Earth's water resources are sufficient, question is how to effectively manage water agencies in different countries. Singapore's annual water loss is only 5%, one of lowest in world.

From a country that had to ration water in 1960s, Singapore has become a leader in water management.

PUB plans to reduce water consumption from 141 liters per person per day in 2018 to 130 liters per day by 2030. The idea they convey to public, as always:

"Every gift counts, every contribution counts. No matter how big or small, let's work together."