The world is facing a water crisis. And many companies have been trying for years to persuade authorities and citizens to adopt an obvious solution: using recycled water. Countries in extreme situations, such as Namibia and Singapore, have been doing so for some time. But in other regions, it has been a difficult idea to sell, even though—with technology that has been available for years—recycled wastewater can be purer and safer from a health perspective than the drinking water supplied in cities.

In several cities across the United States, there are wastewater treatment plants that produce high-quality water. But consumer prejudices—and in some cases, the political exploitation of certain initiatives to reuse it as drinking water—have made it impossible to close the loop. In some cities, its use is limited to watering parks and golf courses. In other places, true to the saying “out of sight, out of mind,” it is used to recharge aquifers from which water is extracted for drinking water treatment plants, or it is discharged directly into waterways, some of which, in turn, serve as sources for drinking water systems downstream.

How can we break down these prejudices? According to some experts on the subject, using recycled water as an ingredient in beer could be the first step toward a solution. That’s exactly what the Canadian company H2O Innovation Inc. did in partnership with the Watereuse Association. Together with the Fox City craft brewery in Georgia, they launched a beer that was offered for tasting during the 2023 Watereuse Symposium, held last March. “If you offer people a glass of recycled water, one in two will turn it down,” Guillaume Clairet, COO of H2O Innovation, told Bloomberg. “But if you offer them beer made with recycled water, nine out of 10 will agree to try it.”

This particular beer, a lager called Revival, is brewed with water sourced from a plant that is part of a pilot project operated for the past three years by the La Vírgenes Water District, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. A portion—about four million liters per day—of the treated wastewater from the complex is delivered to a demonstration plant where it undergoes further purification processes, resulting in water that meets drinking water standards.

This isn't the first time beer has been brewed with recycled water, and some activists believe it's a good way to spark a conversation on the topic. In any case, Revival was a bestseller. Fox City added it to its menu and sold out its entire stock in April, according to Bloomberg.