What if every drop of rain that falls on the roofs of Amsterdam is used to make beer?

Abstract

The city of Amsterdam, like many cities in the world, faces the problem that because of our changing climate, rainfall events become more intense. Sewers designed to only flood once every 10 years now flood multiple times a year.
In an award winning idea, the aptly named brewery Heavenswater, in dutch: “Hemelswater” decided to raise awareness for the growing urban rainwater drainages problems by brewing a beer using rain collected from their
roof in stead of from drinking water.
In this “what if” research we study the implications of this idea on a large scale. We look into the consequences for the rainwater drainage, but also wastewater, city planning, health care and last but not least: novel economic opportunities.