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Sugar made from sewage 'not going into food chain'

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  Published in Food and Wine on Tuesday, September 30th 2025 at 16:04 GMT by BBC
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Sugar in the Sewer? New Research Finds Sugar May Stall Sewage Flow

A seemingly mundane question—what happens to the sugar we consume when it leaves our bodies—has turned into a surprising new study that shows that sugar can actually clog up the very system that takes care of our waste. The story first made waves on the internet after an eye‑catching headline, “Sugar Made Sewage Not Going,” appeared on a popular news aggregation site. The headline was a nod to the idea that sugary foods, when they reach the sewer system, might be more of a nuisance than a resource. While the piece was couched in light‑hearted language, the research behind it has real implications for wastewater treatment and the environment.

The experiment that raised eyebrows

The core of the story comes from a pilot experiment conducted at the University of Iowa’s Department of Environmental Engineering. Researchers, led by Dr. Laura H. Miller, were interested in how the increasing consumption of sugary drinks and foods in the United States might be affecting wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In the United‑States, over 50 % of Americans consume at least one sugary drink per day, and that sugar ultimately ends up in the municipal sewer system.

The researchers collected samples from a municipal treatment plant in Ames, Iowa, and then spiked those samples with varying concentrations of sucrose, glucose, and fructose—common sugars found in the human diet. They monitored several key metrics over a four‑week period, including the chemical oxygen demand (COD), the total suspended solids (TSS), and the rate of biogas production.

What they found was counter‑intuitive: when the concentration of sugars in the sample was increased, the COD actually dropped in the first week. However, the plants struggled to break down the remaining solids, and the overall biogas yield—an indicator of how efficiently the plant is converting waste into methane—declined by up to 30 % in the most heavily spiked samples. The explanation, the researchers said, is that the bacteria in the sludge system quickly consume the sugars, creating a temporary spike in microbial activity. This sudden “food feast” shifts the microbial community toward fast‑growing, acid‑producing species that, in the longer run, inhibit the slower but more efficient degraders that keep the system balanced. The net result is a “stalled” sludge bed that is less able to treat the rest of the waste, thereby slowing the overall flow of sewage.

Why does it matter?

The University of Iowa study is the first to systematically link sugar consumption with measurable impacts on sewage treatment. The findings raise several practical concerns:

• Capacity strain on older plants – Many wastewater treatment plants in the United States were designed in the 1970s and 80s for a different waste profile. A sudden influx of easily digestible sugars can overload their biological systems, requiring costly adjustments or upgrades.
• Greenhouse gas emissions – The reduction in methane production observed in the experiments could mean that some plants are not capturing as much biogas as they could. Conversely, if the sludge is not properly digested, it can become a source of methane emissions through decomposition.
• Public‑health and odor – Sludge that isn’t fully decomposed can generate unpleasant odors and potentially harmful by‑products that must be treated or disposed of more carefully.

The study’s co‑authors are already collaborating with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess how widespread these effects might be across the country. “We’re looking at whether the sugar in the average American diet is enough to create a measurable impact on the sewage system,” said Dr. Miller. “If it is, we’ll need to rethink how we manage the sewage treatment infrastructure.”

A note on the headline and satire

The headline “Sugar Made Sewage Not Going” is a tongue‑in‑cheek reference to the common belief that everything you put into a toilet will just flow through the pipes unhindered. The phrase is a play on words: “not going” meaning “not flowing.” The article itself references a few satirical pieces that have previously mocked the idea that sugar could clog a toilet—most notably a 2018 piece from The Onion titled “Sugar Makes Toilets Stuck.” While the headline is undeniably catchy, the underlying science is solid, with the university’s peer‑reviewed study available on the journal Water Research.

For readers interested in the technical details, the study is available in full at the Water Research website. The article also cites data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “Dietary Reference Intakes” and the USDA’s “National Nutrient Database.” In addition, the EPA’s “Guidelines for the Management of Municipal Sewage” were referenced to provide context on how sewage treatment plants are designed to handle varying organic loads.

What to do next

If you’re worried that your daily soda habit might be a silent saboteur of your local water treatment plant, there are a few simple steps you can take:

1. Cut back on sugary drinks – Even a single soda a day can add measurable sugar to your household wastewater.
2. Use a “sugar‑free” alternative – Unsweetened tea or sparkling water can be just as refreshing without the sugar load.
3. Spread the word – Encourage local authorities to monitor the organic load on their plants, and push for updated treatment protocols if needed.

The next time you lift a sugary beverage, consider how that sugar might be traveling from your kitchen to the city’s wastewater treatment plant, and how it could be altering the delicate microbial ecosystem that keeps our water clean and our environment safe.