Leftover Beer Yeast Could Be the Solution to Cleaning Up Our Water

Veuer

A new study claims that discarded yeast from the beer making process could be used to remove lead and other metals from water. Veuer’s Matt Hoffman reports.

Transcript

00:00What if beer could help keep America's water clean?

00:03That's the idea in a new study published in RSC Sustainability.

00:07According to a statement from MIT, two years ago,

00:10researchers from that school in Georgia Tech found that discarded yeast from the beer-making process

00:14could capture lead and other metals in water.

00:17They predicted that the yeast from a single Boston brewery could clean up the water supply for the whole city.

00:22But they didn't know how to get the yeast itself back out of the water, until now.

00:27In the new study, the researchers encased the yeast in hydrogel capsules.

00:31By doing so, they were able to create a proof-of-concept water filter

00:34that could meet EPA guidelines while operating continuously for 12 days.

00:39Co-author Patricia Stathatu said,

00:41the fact that the yeast themselves are bio-based, benign, and biodegradable

00:45is a significant advantage over traditional technologies.

00:48There's certainly a demand for this type of technology.

00:50A study published in March in JAMA Pediatrics found that 68% of children under 6 in Chicago

00:56are exposed to drinking water contaminated with lead.

01:00But beer yeast isn't necessarily the only solution.

01:03Popular Science reported in 2022 that researchers have also been experimenting

01:07with filtering water using kombucha cultures.

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