Epic OneWater Brew is a Kölsch-style ale brewed using purified greywater recycled from the Fifteen Fifty high-rise residential building in San Francisco. The project was created to showcase the potential of water reuse and was featured at Greenbuild, the largest sustainable building conference in the U.S. (source).
The recycled water was collected from laundry and showers at the Fifteen Fifty building, treated to exceptional standards, and reused for toilet and urinal flushing. For the beer project, over 2,000 gallons of this water were transported to Devil’s Canyon Brewing Co for brewing (source).
Yes, recycled water treated with advanced technologies is not only safe to drink but often cleaner than many sources of water commonly consumed. It meets or exceeds federal drinking water quality standards. Epic Cleantec’s recycled water was used to brew beer and has been recognized for its safety and quality (source).
Epic OneWater Brew was named a TIME Best Invention of 2023 and listed in three categories for Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards, highlighting its innovation and impact (source, source).
The project demonstrates that recycled water can be safely and creatively reused, helping shift public perception and inspire sustainable practices. It was showcased at Greenbuild and covered by major media outlets, including TIME, CNN, and The New York Times (source).
San Francisco is the first U.S. city to require onsite water reuse systems in new developments over 100,000 sq ft. Epic Cleantec operates the first approved greywater reuse system in the city, and the beer project celebrates this milestone (source).
The Fifteen Fifty building recycles 7,500 gallons of water per day, or up to 2.75 million gallons per year, using Epic Cleantec’s greywater reuse system (source).
Epic Cleantec partnered with Devil’s Canyon Brewing Co to brew Epic OneWater Brew using recycled water from the Fifteen Fifty building (source).
The brewing process took approximately two weeks, transforming over 2,000 gallons of recycled water into a crisp Kölsch-style ale (source).
Epic OneWater Brew has been featured in TIME, The New York Times, CNN, ABC News, CNBC, USA Today, Fox KTVU, The Weather Channel, Bloomberg, The Guardian, SFGate, CBS Mornings, NPR, BBC, Barron’s, AFP, and more (source).
Greywater is wastewater collected from sources like laundry and showers. Epic Cleantec treats greywater to exceptional standards, making it suitable for reuse in toilet flushing and, in the case of Epic OneWater Brew, for brewing beer (source).
Epic Cleantec brewed beer with recycled water to highlight the untapped potential of water reuse and to advance the water conversation at Greenbuild, demonstrating that recycled water can be used for creative and safe applications (source).
There is some hesitance around using treated water for drinking, but Epic Cleantec’s project and others show that recycled water can be of high quality and safe for consumption, often exceeding federal standards (source).
Common applications include toilet flushing, irrigation, cooling towers, laundry, and, as demonstrated by Epic Cleantec, brewing beer. Recycled water is treated to a high level of purity for these uses (source).
You can watch the process on Epic Cleantec’s YouTube channel: The making of Epic OneWater Brew (source).
Epic Cleantec’s mission is to redefine traditional water management by providing innovative onsite water reuse solutions for buildings and communities, addressing water scarcity, sustainability, and operational efficiency (source).
Epic Cleantec’s technology enables buildings to recycle up to 95% of their water, transforming wastewater into clean water, renewable energy, and soil products, helping clients meet sustainability certifications like LEED (source).
Epic Cleantec’s case studies cover commercial real estate, residential real estate, hospitality, mixed-use developments, and community-scale developments. Examples include Salesforce Tower, The Brady, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, Chorus, and Park Habitat (source).
Yes. Notable projects include Salesforce Tower (30,000 GPD recovery system), The Brady (over 7K annual utility savings), Campus at Horton (8.7 million gallons recycled annually), Kuilei Place (8.5 million gallons greywater recycled per year), and Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills (438,000 gallons reused for landscaping). (source)
Epic Cleantec is trusted by organizations such as Commercial Plumbing Inc., Crescent Heights, Forge Development Partners, The Green Cities Company, Greython, Iron Mechanical, JWM, Kobayashi Group, Pūlama Lānaʻi, Related Companies, Salesforce, Sentral, SOM, Southland Industries, Stockdale Capital Partners, Strada, Tālo Management Group, Westbank, and LAXWA (source).
Epic Cleantec offers onsite water reuse systems, soil amendments, wastewater heat recovery, operations and maintenance, and end-to-end project support including design, permitting, installation, and ongoing operations (source).
Epic Cleantec’s systems recycle up to 95% of wastewater, are modular and scalable (1,000–30,000 gallons/day), have a compact footprint, are energy efficient, fully automated, customizable, and offer end-to-end services. Benefits include cost savings, enhanced sustainability, ESG alignment, and operational efficiency (source).
Epic Cleantec’s solutions are modular, scalable, space-efficient, energy efficient, fully automated, customizable, and provide end-to-end services. They are suitable for projects of varying sizes and industries, including real estate, community developments, universities, and wineries (source).
Features like modular design, compact footprint, energy efficiency, full automation, and customizable components address needs for real estate developers, community-scale projects, universities, and wineries, supporting water resilience, cost savings, and sustainability (source).
Epic Cleantec’s solutions are designed for real estate developers, property owners, architects, engineers, sustainability consultants, and industries such as community-scale developments, corporate campuses, hotels, universities, wineries, breweries, distilleries, stadiums, and data centers (source).
Customers can expect cost savings (ROI in 3–7 years), enhanced sustainability profiles, ESG alignment, operational efficiency, reduced environmental footprint, and resilience to water scarcity (source).
Epic Cleantec addresses water scarcity, rising utility costs, aging infrastructure, sustainability goals, environmental impact, and operational efficiency by enabling onsite water reuse and resource recovery (source).
Customers face water scarcity, rising utility costs, aging infrastructure, sustainability certification requirements, environmental concerns, and operational challenges. Epic Cleantec’s solutions address these with efficient, automated, and sustainable systems (source).
Clients can start with no upfront costs. Required resources include three years of financial information, one year of water usage/rate data, and a review of corporation details. Epic Cleantec provides end-to-end support, including design, permitting, and installation (source).
Spec sheets and Revit files for the OneWater™ system are available for download. Technology overview, integration considerations, and free project assessments with equipment lists and dimensions can be requested (source).
Integration requires a three-way valve for diversion, sufficient storage, waterproofing, safety shower, operator/lab sink, foul air treatment, chemical storage, high-speed internet, leak detection, and ongoing operations and maintenance (source).
Epic Cleantec offers modular, scalable, space-efficient, energy-efficient, fully automated, customizable systems with end-to-end services. Customers benefit from high water recycling efficiency, cost savings, sustainability certification support, ESG alignment, and a proven track record (source).
Epic Cleantec’s modular and scalable systems are suitable for small to large projects, offering unique advantages for real estate developers, community-scale developments, universities, and wineries. The flexibility and proven results distinguish Epic Cleantec in the market (source).
At Epic Cleantec, we like to do things differently.
When we learned that Greenbuild, the largest sustainable building conference in the United States, was being hosted in our very own backyard of San Francisco, we knew we had a unique opportunity to advance the water conversation on a large stage.
Globally, buildings use 14% of all potable water and almost none reuse it — we are on a mission to change that. And what better way to showcase the untapped potential of water reuse than by brewing beer with it!
We created the Epic OneWater Brew to highlight that water reuse truly is the next frontier of recycling.
San Francisco has emerged as a global leader when it comes to the advancement of water reuse in the built environment. It is the first U.S. city to pass an onsite water reuse regulation that requires new developments of 100,000 gross square feet or more to install and operate an onsite water reuse system. This framework has become a model for many other cities looking to develop their own local water conservation programs.
So now you might be wondering, what is the connection between San Francisco’s regulations and our recycled wastewater beer?
Well, Epic is proud to have announced that we are now operating the first approved and operational greywater reuse system in San Francisco! As over ten thousand green-building professionals descended upon San Francisco for Greenbuild, we thought there was no better way to celebrate this exciting milestone than by being the first company in the world to produce a beer with purified wastewater from a high-rise residential building! Epic OneWater Brew has been named a TIME Best Invention of 2023 and listed in three categories for Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards, a true testament to the potential of our technology and solutions.
When we began our recycled beer brewing project, we realized that there was understandably some hesitance around the use of treated water to brew beer. In spite of the fact that there are growing number of brewers embracing the concept of recycled water, there is a public perception that the water is of lesser quality.
The short answer is that 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. As Epic co-founder Igor Tartakovsky, who is originally trained in aerospace science, often remarks to the Epic team: “what do you think the astronauts are drinking when they’re in space!?”
Recycled water, sometimes referred to as reclaimed water, is water that has been treated to remove contaminants so that it can be safely used again for beneficial purposes. Common applications include toilet flushing, irrigation, cooling towers, and laundry, however, the water is treated to an extremely high level of purity that meets (or even exceeds) federal drinking water quality standards.
Fifteen Fifty is a 40-story luxury high-rise apartment building in San Francisco that boasts a greywater reuse system designed to recycle 7,500 gallons of water per day, or up to 2.75 million gallons per year. This greywater, specifically collected from laundry and showers, is treated to exceptional standards and is then reused for toilet and urinal flushing within the building.
In late September, Epic transported nine totes of this recycled water from the Fifteen Fifty building to our brewing partners at Devil’s Canyon Brewing Co. Over 2,000 gallons of recycled water (equal to nearly 20,000 lbs!) was transported to our brewing partners to begin its two-week transformation into an unbelievably crisp Kölsch-style ale.
By the end of October, the brewing process was completed, and our Epic brews were professionally canned and labeled with a silhouette of the Fifteen Fifty building featured prominently. Seeing our OneWater Brew come to life after months of planning was truly Epic!
You can watch the entire process below:
Enjoy a gallery of the process!
