BBC Two Orders The Secret Science of Sewage

Tern Television, part of Zinc Media Group, has been commissioned by BBC Two to make The Secret Science of Sewage.

A follow-up to Tern’s The Secret Life of Landfill: A Rubbish History, the new documentary will explore the biology, chemistry, natural history and social history of feces, diving into the pools, tanks and bowels of one of the U.K.’s largest and most technologically advanced sewage works. Dr. George McGavin, Dr. Zoe Laughlin and a team of world-leading scientists wade in to reveal the science of sewage, exploring its hidden value and considering how this energy resource may be better utilized in the future.

The Secret Science of Sewage was commissioned for the BBC’s flagship Horizon strand and produced in partnership with The Open University. It is executive produced by Harry Bell for Tern Television at Zinc Media.

Harry Bell, managing director at Tern Television, said: “In The Secret Science of Sewage we set up a pop-up science lab on top of one of Europe’s leading sewage works, Minworth near Birmingham, and our team of scientists dig deep into this amazing renewable energy source. In the film we discover brand new biological life forms in Minworth’s vats that can potentially be used in phage therapy for treating bacterial infections. George also investigates a new type of pee-power building brick that if super-sized could see toilets powering our future homes. And, in the biomethane plant, they reveal that a staggering 28,000 homes a year are supplied with gas for heating and cooking. Poo is life-enhancing. It’s the world’s new superpower. Landfill really made a mark, selling from Thailand to Poland and Africa to Canada, as well as being used in secondary schools across the U.K. for Geography A Level syllabus and Open University modules. We hope that The Secret Science of Sewage will make just as much impact.”