How on Earth could somebody propose using water from a sewage treatment plant for brewing beer?
Well, Mike Barratt can vouch for the process of turning human urine into a refreshing beverage — although to be precise, he wasn’t on Earth at the time.
Also, Barratt didn’t get to drink beer … and rat urine may have been involved.
The Camas native has made two trips to the International Space Station as an astronaut. In 2009, Barratt was part of a milestone in space technology. He and two crewmates drank a toast with recycled urine.
“We don’t have an abundant water supply,” Barratt explained during a 2010 visit to Liberty Middle School in Camas.
With a water recovery system that recycles urine, sweat and other moisture back into drinking water, “You turn yesterday’s Kool-Aid into tomorrow’s Kool-Aid,” the astronaut said.
Now Northwest brewers might tap that keg. A wastewater treatment agency is so proud of the purity of its output that it wants craft brewers to use the water.
The Oregon Health Authority has approved; two more hurdles remain, including a Department of Environmental Quality hearing Thursday. If the DEQ approves, the Environmental Quality Commission will make the final call.
After his first sip, it didn’t take long for Barratt to make a crucial call.
“The taste is great,” he said in a NASA video.
“This has been the stuff of science fiction,” the 1977 Camas High grad added in a news release. “Everybody’s talked about recycling water in a closed loop system, but nobody’s ever done it before.
“This is the kind of technology that will get us to the moon and further.”
Humans aren’t the only participants, by the way. According to a NASA official, the urine and water vapor produced by 72 lab rats on the space station is the equivalent of one astronaut.
Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back from our newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in the story or just tell a story.
