Other
Options for Home Soda Water Systems
The system I built cost under $200 and produces soda water
for about $0.04 per liter. It works well for us,
but there are other approaches to the same problem. Here are a few:
Seltzer Bottles and Gas Cartridges
$40 investment, $1 per
liter
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When I was a child, it was common for
adults who entertained to have
cool seltzer charging bottles as part of their bar. They use small and
somewhat dangerous CO2 gas
cylinders to charge the water with CO2. Once charged, seltzer bottles dispense water through their nozzle
under pressure. These
bottles can still be found for under $40. Because their gas
chargers cost close to a dollar each, and each can charge only a liter, the soda
water they produce costs about the same as in a market – about a dollar per
liter. |
Seltzer Bottle CO2
Chargers
|
Countertop Carbonation Systems
$80 Investment, $0.17 to $0.42 per liter
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I first saw these systems in friend's homes in Germany where
they seem to be fairly popular. They
are usually designed to rest on a counter like a kitchen appliance and use a
scaled up, and therefore less expensive version of the seltzer bottle CO2 chargers described above.
The Soda Club offers
countertop systems in the $80 to $250 range. Their
simplest systems use CO2 cartridges rated to charge 110 liters of water.
These cartridges
cost $19 plus two-way shipping. When you empty a cartridge, you must
return them for recharging. Without taking shipping costs into account,
these systems claim to produce carbonated water for as
little as $0.17 per liter. They also offer a
fancier $250 system with
cartridges rated for only 30 liters of water. These cost $12.50 each
(without
shipping), which brings the price to $0.42 per liter. |
Restaurant
Systems
$500 to $2000+ Investment, $0.04 per liter
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Carbonator
Commercial Soda Dispenser
|
The heart of
restaurant
systems is a device called a carbonator. Carbonators are
specialized pumps that connect to
high pressure CO2, water, and electricity and generate a continuous stream of
carbonated water. Carbonators are usually hidden from view within soda
dispensing units or beneath bars where they are connected to
soda guns. Carbonators
sell for $400 or more, but require a series of additional components
including a refrigeration or cooling system, and a soda water
delivery system. While the final system is convenient, they are often
costly and take up a lot of room. While new systems can easily cost over $2000, it is
possible to find used through restaurant supply stores, or through
eBay for as little as $500. Once a restaurant style system is set up,
the cost for soda water is about $0.04 per liter. |
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System