Breweries care a lot about the health of the Catawba River -- and you should, too
It’s been a busy summer for Sam Perkins. As the Catawba Riverkeeper, he’s devoted a lot of time over the past few weeks to coal ash issues as well as the clean-up plan for the U.S. National Whitewater Center.
He did manage to get away to Oak Island last week for a vacation, only to have it cut short when tens of thousands of gallons of stormwater that came in contact with coal spilled into the Broad River near Mooresboro, N.C. He was soon high above it all in a single-engine 1949 Piper Cub plane, taking photos and surveying the affected area.
He could use a beer.
Now’s the perfect time for it, since the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation is kicking off its second annual River Week. This week 19 area breweries, bars and bottle shops will donate a portion of proceeds back to the foundation. The week ends with a big LoSo Block Party on Saturday, Aug. 13, when the streets will be blocked off and filled with live music, food trucks, drinks, vendors and games. In addition to supporting the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, the event also benefits Pints for Prostates.
While enjoying the locally-made beers, spirits and ciders, Perkins wants people to come away with an appreciation for how tied those beverages are to Charlotte’s local water supply.
“We really want people to make the connection,” he said. “To think that what’s coming out of the tap is what’s coming out of the brewery’s system and that it’s all ultimately connected to the Catawba River.”
Many of the breweries participating in River Week have supported the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation for some time. They have a vested interest in doing so, since breweries use a substantial amount of water in the production of beer.
“It’s not just the water volume that goes into the beer, but all the cleaning they do,” said Perkins. “More water is used for the cleaning than the actual brewing itself. It’s a major expense for them, so partnering definitely makes sense.”
Brewers are just as concerned with the quality of their water as they are its costs, said Perkins. And since they rely on municipal water drawn from the Catawba River like Charlotte’s residents, they are just as concerned in keeping it clean.
“It becomes an economic situation when you have water that is of poor quality and needs a lot of expensive treatment,” said Perkins. “Given the volume of some of these breweries, it really adds up when Charlotte water has to charge more for treatment, or when they’re only able to do so much and the brewery has to do their own filtration prior to use.”
Many local breweries do filter the water prior to use, if only to remove chlorine. Some will also adjust the mineral content or hardness to get the water profile they want.
For Perkins, River Week is the marriage of two passions: Protecting our area’s water supply and local beer. He’s a frequent visitor to many of the participating breweries and bottle shops, and he’s even written about beer for various local media outlets. But for as much as he wants people to make the connection between local beer and local water, he wants everyone — beer and non-beer drinkers alike — to understand how dependent we all are on the Catawba River.
“It’s not just brewers,” he said. “We all live downstream of someone else, and whether you’re using treated drinking water or you have property with a dock downstream, there are a lot of reasons to be concerned about where your water comes from.”
This story was originally published August 7, 2016 at 9:19 AM with the headline "Breweries care a lot about the health of the Catawba River -- and you should, too."