Making Soda and Carbonated Water at Home

Benefits of Making Carbonated Water/Soda At Home

A long time ago, Joseph Priestly infused carbon dioxide in water and invented the fizzy drink we’ve all come to love: carbonated water or soda.

It is not only good to taste, but also quenches your thirst. Soda is also good for making ‘hard drinks’, and is a very convenient drink to have at home for unexpected guests.

Carbonated water, whether plain or fortified with minerals, is easily available in the market. You will also find several carbonated beverages including flavored soda pop, diet soda and club soda. You can also make soda at home with a home soda maker.

Many people love to do things by themselves. They love to grind their own beans, make syrups at home and even make their own espresso. Making soda at home with a soda machine is easy and a far cheaper option.

You will find several gadgets in the market for making soda. To make seltzer water, you need only two things:
– A soda siphon or a seltzer bottle. It looks like a thermos bottle with a built-in spray mechanism and holds regular water.
– Chargers. Soda chargers are basically small metal containers with pressurized carbon dioxide in them. Soda chargers come with either screw-in or snap-on varieties. The type you need depends on the seltzer water bottle that you have.

You can also choose to carbonate water with improvised equipment and soda fountains. This involves getting the carbon dioxide gas supply from a tank through a regulator. It actually translates into getting carbonated water from a tap.

Though the pressure of the gas plays an important role, it is better to pre-chill water, because the solubility of carbon dioxide increases if the temperature of the water is low.

Benefits of Making Carbonated Water at Home

– The biggest benefit of making soda at home with a soda machine is that you get carbonated water at a fraction of the price of bottled soda.
– Commercial bottled soda loses its fizz once you open it. Making it at home allows you to make as much carbonated water as you need.
– You can use a soda machine to make soda pop at home.
– Making soda with soda makers is more hygienic.
– You can also use your soda machine for making healthy soda drinks at home. Add a splash of any fruit that you like, or twist a lemon into it.
– Making soda at home is also good for the environment. All those plastic bottles that you throw away are not recycled. Most end up in landfills where it takes thousands of years to decompose.
– You also save a lot of water in the process. A lot of water is wasted in the purification process- almost two gallons for every gallon of water that is actually bottled. It is a reality that too much water extraction has led to water shortages near bottling plants.

Nearly 1.5 million tons of plastic is used in plants that supply 89 billion liters of aerated drinks each year. When you are making soda at home, you are not only saving yourself the trouble of lugging 2 liter bottles every time you need carbonated water, but you are also doing your own bit for saving this planet and making it a better place to live in.