This guy’s project is tremendous:
“Carbonating tap water to make seltzer is easy, fast, and absurdly inexpensive with my improvised apparatus. All that is required is to place CO2 gas in agitated contact with chilled water for a few seconds. In this essay, I’ll show you how it is done with easy-to-find parts and common PET soda bottles. I’ll also explain the kinetic chemistry of why it works so well. And in the second half of this essay, I’ll explain how I progressed from this improvised apparatus to installing a complete soda fountain in my home.”
I upvoted because of your awesome write up! However, I don’t even know why I read it, I cannot stand the taste of carbonated water. I guess I’m just trying to interact with posts as much as I can since I love it here. Thanks for the great post!
Oh I am not the author, this was written in 2002 (the page notes the actual author) and has been remixed by others a few times but this version has so much information in it, as @mb_ says, it is really comprehensive.
Thanks for reading, glad you enjoyed it!
Honestly, where does the second half starts? This really is an essay.
The good about it is that all the questions you usually ask yourself when thinking about building a system like this are documented, explained, scrutinized.
I think part 2 begins after the list of patents, with the header “Fountain Carbonation Equipment”.
I’ve been interested in this for a while but one of the challenges is refilling the tank if you don’t have a car. It doesn’t seem like a great idea to put a 50 lb weight on a bicycle even if the basket’s rated for it, which it’s not.
Someone gave me a soda stream machine a long time ago. I bought an adapter that allows me to use paintball tanks; these are on the small side and fairly light, which would allow you to do it on a bike.
Each tank lasts me a month and I have 4 tanks.
Alternatively, you can adapt everything the site says but for a smaller tank, you don’t need to buy a gigantic one. So his gear with a few small paintball tanks would work nicely for you.
Oh that is a cool idea! I’ll look into it.
