Easiest solution I found is sticking with the Sodastream system, but refilling the CO2 tanks myself.
For that I’m using this simple adapter [0].
NB, newer Sodastream tanks have a booby trap valve, but I had no problem sourcing older ones. Spare Sodastream “60 Liter” tanks can be had at BestBuy for $30.
Refilling of my large 20lb CO2 tank with dip tube [1] (also called siphon) is done at a Bay Area fountain supply store [2] for ~$30. This store also carries commercial syrup for all kinds of soft drinks (Coke Zero, Apple Juice, Ice tea, etc.).
For a more continous supply of carbonated water, I’ve thought about a small “Korny” keg system with a special adapter [3]. But that would require fridge space and running CO2 and water lines. A Kegerator for the garage may be the better solution.
I almost walked this path, but ended up buying a Sparkel https://sparkel.com/ -- it creates CO2 on the fly, using sachets of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate. It's pretty easy to use, seems pretty robust, and my use of it has lasted much longer than my use of Sodastream which I never managed to keep up the habit of swapping tanks and so on.
Wow, this is super helpful. How do you know if you're getting an older Sodastream tank?
How many refills of the 60 liter tank is the 20lb tank good for? Are there any safety concerns, or steps to take to make sure you don't overfill or have an accident?
This is what I do. I bought my tank used and I don’t know if it has a syphon tube, but I’m assuming it doesn’t. So what I do is flip the tank upside down and fill the bottles that way.
Honestly refilling the gas is the least cumbersome part. It’s filling the soda stream bottles every two glasses of carbonated water. In summer I never have a supply of cold carbonated water because it flows faster than I can carbonate it and chill it. But better than buying the equivalent from the store still
if you have space in your kitchen an easier solution would be to buy an adapter for the large CO2 tank directly to the sodastream input, 20lbs would last a long time.
This is a surprisingly in depth overview of various carbonation options! I wish I had found this when setting up a carbonator at home at the start of the pandemic.
> For economical home use, the best solution to the chiller overhead would seem to be in altering the commercial design by refrigerating the pressure vessel. This should be possible by separating the pressure vessel from the rest of the carbonation unit and installing the vessel in the household refrigerator. The unit could then be operated at lower CO2 pressures. This would require adapting the liquid and gas plumbing on the unit, and the electrical controls, to make them longer and to pass them through the walls of the refrigerator.
I ended up doing something similar - I found a large commercial kegerator cheap on Craigslist and stuck a McCann carbonator entirely inside it. Then I just had to run power and water to it, which is simpler than splitting the carbonator itself into two components. It works surprisingly well (after replacing a bad check valve on my eBay-sourced model).
I sourced a post-mix bar gun from eBay to dispense it, which also lives entirely in the fridge with the carbonator. After learning about how soda systems work, it was also easy to add a bag-in-box soda system. The pumps are cheap used and are powered by CO2, so you need an extra regulator per syrup you want to add, and then run a line for it to the bar gun. The syrup box lives in the fridge with everything else, so it all stays cold (and the fridge is large enough that we use it for extra fridge space and for beer kegs).
The only downsides are that it’s loud (both the fridge compressor and the carbonator) so it lives on the back porch, and the fridge uses more electricity than I’d like (because it’s commercial). If you were willing to spend more money on a similar set up though, you could fix those issues.
A few years ago, I set up a water carbonation system in my fridge consisting of a tank, two mini kegs, and a beer tap fixed to one of the shelves. It worked a treat, because I could just open the fridge, pull the tap lever, and carbonated water came out. When one keg ran out, I switched the tap to the other keg, then filled the empty one from the sink. The 20lb CO2 canister would feed into both kegs at the same time. While one keg was recharging (takes 2-3 days), the other was providing carbonated water. One canister lasted 6 months to a year depending on use, and cost $30 to refill.
When I moved to Europe I couldn't take it with me, so I just bought a Sodastream. Now that the mini CO2 tanks are standardized, you can just take your empties to the supermarket and swap them for filled ones at dirt cheap prices.
> Now that the mini CO2 tanks are standardized, you can just take your empties to the supermarket and swap them for filled ones at dirt cheap prices.
How much do they cost where you are? I swap mine for $15 each, which seems like an incredible markup. Bed Bath and Beyond coupons bring it closer to $10, but I assume the true cost is 1/10 of that. Can these be bought elsewhere?
I'm in Germany now, and pay 5-6 euros to swap at the supermarket. If costs near you are that high, it's probably because the distribution channels haven't reached a high enough volume yet.
Compared to $30 for a 20lb canister, it's of course still expensive, but then again you also don't need such a heavy up-front investment or bulky equipment.
Fill the 2L with cold liquid, pressurize, shake, pressurize, shake, etc. It's amazing to fill the bottle until it's hard and then as you shake it the co2 dissolves and the bottle gets soft. You can carbonate beverages more than normal with this approach. On the final carbonation, you'll want to put the bottle in the fridge for a while before you release the pressure so it stabilizes.
I made many custom and weird concoctions over the years with this setup.
I love my Sodastream at home.
Just came across a startup that tackles carbonating water on the go as well. Still not in production but hopefully they manage to get it out to market soon.
https://www.bottleplus-shop.com/
I remember seeing this article years ago and the idea has always stuck with me. I got gifted a sodastream not long ago and I'm tempted to just buy that long hose adapter that goes straight to the big CO2 containers.
I’ve been force carbonating since this summer. Have a few 2 liter bottles in the fridge with cold water at all times. A great, cheap, healthy alternative to other beverages like soda or beer.
For that I’m using this simple adapter [0].
NB, newer Sodastream tanks have a booby trap valve, but I had no problem sourcing older ones. Spare Sodastream “60 Liter” tanks can be had at BestBuy for $30.
Refilling of my large 20lb CO2 tank with dip tube [1] (also called siphon) is done at a Bay Area fountain supply store [2] for ~$30. This store also carries commercial syrup for all kinds of soft drinks (Coke Zero, Apple Juice, Ice tea, etc.).
For a more continous supply of carbonated water, I’ve thought about a small “Korny” keg system with a special adapter [3]. But that would require fridge space and running CO2 and water lines. A Kegerator for the garage may be the better solution.
[0] https://www.co2-adapter.com/
[1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ICO58CG
[2] https://www.carbonicservice.com/
[3] https://www.morebeer.com/products/continuous-soda-carbonator...