How can i carbonate my water

Hi Rick, apologies for the delay with my response. Two 5-gallon kegs and a 5lb CO2 tank fit fine in my fridge as long as I have the following mod:.

See more in my kegerator build guide. Thanks for this great post. Would that work? Thanks for this! I can see a kegerator in our future. Check my latest update, those re-mineralizing filters are fantastic and make RO water taste very, very good. I have two five gal kegs that I pressurize at the same time at about psi. My kegerator is also at a temp of around degrees.

I thought the gas ran out or it had a leak, but not the case. Keg was pressurized and still had gas. Nothing seemed off. Checked again in the morning and still the same. I switched to the other keg and same issue. Any thoughts on what maybe going on? Hi John, that is very strange. But there should a very simple explanation to it. First, make sure that all the valves along the line are fully open.

I know, this sounds stupid but stranger things have happened to me. Took me a while to figure that out. There can be a leak along the line somewhere. Finally, the CO2 regulator may have malfunctioned.

Hi Victor, so I checked the lines, connections and valve. Everything looks good and normal. I disconnected one of the ball locks and turned the gas on, and it was flowing. I then purged one of the tanks and reconnected it and will wait 48 hours or so to see if it has good carbonation. Besides I had it in there last winter. Anyway will see what happens after a couple of days. Totally possible. Improperly seated connector maybe. The temp drop in the garage will have a negligible effect on the carbonation level in your case.

At room temp, the pressure inside the CO2 cylinder is about psi. What WILL have a significant impact on the carbonation level is the water temp inside the keg… but that did not change.

Updated the article scroll to the bottom with some exciting taste test results. Quite interesting how an alkaline filter can make RO water either incredibly good or barely drinkable.

Thanks for the very insightful post. I was seeking alternatives to Sodastream and Drinkmate and found your post. I use 5-gallon tanks and a 20lb CO2 tank. Have you tried to flavor the water? Hi Hannah, yes I tried flavoring water but quickly stopped that as we go through kegs quickly and they need cleaning and sanitization if using certain flavorings… too much work.

I find it easier to just add flavourings in the glass. I was wondering if the Kegerator solution would work with a water line feeding into the kegs?

Maybe have Keg A receive water from the source, receive carbonation from the tank, feed carbonated water into tank B, tank B receive carbonation, and tank B provide carbonated water to the user.

Doable or no? What you need is Big Mac motor carbonator system. This will give you exactly what you need. I am going to upgrade my setup to include the Big Mac motor carbonator system in the near future and will update the post on how it goes and what results I get. I have no idea what a Big Mac is needed. Pic shows my single, permanent 9L tank in main kitchen fridge, water line straight in without any pump, just mains pressure.

CO2 also going in, tap coming out. Continuous carbonation, tank refills automatically. Easily dispenses my 4L per day and likely could do double that. But how is your carbonation? My assumption has always been that a carbonation level can only be maintained in a closed system. I never tested this though but I will as I am intrigued. Definitely look into a commercial style system like the Big Mac. You can get rid of the tanks, and just run the carbonator pump with small storage tank.

Probably would be cheaper than the kegs were. You only need to keep the hose cold. I had a summer job back in where we installed these systems and serviced them. Back then, I put together a home beer dispensing system, now, I am looking to do fizzy water. Oh, I am:- already planning to get one. I want to put it in a very small bar fridge.

I am quite impressed but this little device. You need to add the Big Mac motor carbonator system, I just installed one in my kitchen, best thing ever, Seltzer on tap unlimited amounts.

Took me around a week to find all the parts and fittings, really worth it. Hi Alejandro, thanks for this valuable piece of information. I am definitely going to investigate and hopefully test it out. Not having to deal with refilling water tanks is a welcome upgrade. Besides, you can get away with a much smaller fridge to keep the water cold. Single line out to dispensing tap sitting outside the fridge. Easily keeps up with my 4L a day, I suspect I could even do 6 or 8L.

So not the sacrifice of fridge space, but still cupboard space. Would be cheaper to run though than keeping 9L cold — not sure if trivial though. Plus I can detach the 9L keg in seconds, take it straight to a party with the dispensing tap with some 16g CO2 cartridges to dispense.

Is there a problem with getting the water to mix in time? My SodaStream carbonates in 2s so it seems like it should be possible? A C02 carbonation system is a closed system. In it, you have a balance between CO2 gas pressure and the amount of CO2 dissolved in water, which is also a function of temperature.

As soon as you open up the tank to a water source, you will be making it a part of the system. It will affect the temperature inside the keg and the carbonation. In essence, you will be carbonating your water source as well. I am not an engineer so I may be wrong about this, but what you are looking for is not technically possible.

Not easily anyway. Hi, thanks again for your detailed instructions on making carbonated water. I finally got started on my and decided to buy a kegerator instead of making my own.

Have a couple questions though. Will it hold its carbonation for awhile? I was wondering because I have a double tap, and may want to put a keg of beer in there sometimes. You see, when you let some water out of the keg, the extra headroom will have to be filled by gas. It will come from either the CO2 tank, or from the water. If no CO2 is supplied at 40 PSI, the more water you draw, the more CO2 will leave the water to fill headspace, the less carbonated water will become.

Yes, you can. Will it hold the same level of carbonation? No, if the room is warmer than the fridge. Carbonation level measured in volumes or grams per liter is a function of pressure PSI and temperature. If you carbonate your water to 5 volumes at 40F and move the keg to 70F warm room, over time the carbonation level will drop to what it would have been if you carbonated at 40 PSI and 70F, roughly 3. How quickly will it happen?

About as quickly as it carbonates. So, if you carbonate over 48 hours, it will take about 2 days to decarbonate to the point wheRE the carbonation stabilizes.

I once fully carbonated a keg of cold water in 25 or so minutes by shaking it and rolling it around. Would this keg system work outside of a fridge? Stephanie, yes, this system will work outside of a fridge. However, you need to keep a few things in mind. You are correct to suspect that water may not effectively carbonate.

It depends on your ambient temperature and the level of carbonation you want to achieve. But you can design the system with that in mind, so it will. For example, we carbonate our water at 40F and 45 PSI. This results in about 5. We settled on this temperature and carbonation level after some experimenting and consider this ideal for our taste. On the other hand, Perrier, favorite carbonated water of many I used to love it too , carbonate their water to 3.

To get 3. To get 5. If you go the high pressure regulator way, make sure that the C02 hose is also rated to support that pressure. Unfortunately it is difficult to find components that allow a CO2 tank to be hooked up to the sodastream refills. The paintball containers are too small and need to be refilled too often. Has anyone found a reliable attachment for the Sodastream cylinders to be able to fill them from a CO2 food grade tank? Thank you so much for this thorough write up.

I just purchased 2 new corny kegs and all the supplies I needed to set up a home carbonation system. Very excited. ONe thing you did not mention that I am now wondering about. How do you initially clean the new corny kegs and also, once your keg is empty again, do you first clean and sanitize it before you refill with water?

Thank you so much. You prepare the solution as per the instructions on the container, fill up the keg, let it sit for 30 minutes then rinse with water several times. I push the solution and later the water out with CO2 to make sure the tubing gets cleaned up too.

The same cleaner is commonly used to clean kegs later on, especially if you use them for beers, ciders, etc. This is what I do. Though, my kegs new, Italian made came pretty clean and I did not detect any oil residue inside or outside. Never used it but heard a lot of good feedback. After the initial cleaning and sanitizing I repeat the process very infrequently, maybe once a year or even longer.

The reason is that we use RO filtered re-mineralized water, without any flavorings. There are no sediments or residue as a result.

Both kegs and the water stay cold in the fridge. Carbonation drops pH. All of this pretty much prevents any bacteria growth. Joel, no, there is no min or max length requirement unlike when dispensing beer but keep in mind that whatever length you plan on having outside of the kegerator the water in it will get warm.

So, does this sparkling water keg have to be plumbed to a water line? Or do you fill the water tanks individually when need? Tyler, this is an interesting question and I think someone already asked me about the same thing a while ago.

The simple answer is that you have to fill the tanks then pressurize them with compressed C The cold plate will need a source of ice as well. This is what feeds commercial soda fountains, soda guns at bars, etc. Thanks for the info, Jason. Where exactly in the Danby 4. My beer tower will be located on a quartz countertop above the fridge. Hi Brian, apologies for the later response, your comment was lost in the pile of spam comments. If your tower will be raised above the fridge, you might as well drill a smaller perhaps 1 inch hole in the top of the fridge similar to where I did and run both gas and water lines through it.

Plug any remaining open space with some insulating material. Alternatively, run the water line through the top and the gas line through the bottom, making holes just big enough for the lines to fit through, then cover any cracks with silicone.

You can see what I did on the picture under Update on July 3, You can also see more details in my kegerator build post. Lots of good info. I too was considering making my own carbonation system and like a lot of my projects — my wife got fed up with waiting for it and bought a Soda Stream.

Now that we have one I was wondering about how it works. On the Soda stream the bottle is removed after pressurizing and is open to atmosphere until you put the cap on it. Perhaps for safety reasons? Maybe having a lot of CO2 escaping in the process was better than dealing with a pressurized caps?

One other thing I noticed. Is a paint ball CO2 beverage grade? Hi Wentworth, the reason for that two-fold. For big companies like Soda Stream, saving even a penny per unit adds up to a large sum at the end of the day. Think of CO2 gas as another soluble ingredient, like salt. Put a bunch of salt in water, stir — and it will get dissolved. Let the salted water stand for a while, and some of that salt will solidify again and become a sediment.

The same is true with CO2 gas. It will get dissolved in water, much like salt. To reverse, it will take time. The higher the pressure, the colder the water, the larger the area of contact between the water and the CO2 gas, the higher the rate of carbonation will be. The reverse is true too.

In reality, you are only decreasing the pressure to the level of atmospheric pressure. It will take hours for the water to loose all that carbonation in those conditions.

Put a cap on the bottle right after carbonation and little of it will be lost. Refrigerate the bottle and even less will be lost. Leave no head space, cap on, refrigerate, an barely any carbonation will be lost. I do know that many people use conversion kits and refill at those places. You need to ask at those places. The purity of CO2 gas they use will likely vary from place to place. You bring up a very good point though.

When refilling soda stream or other gas tanks, one must always inquire about the quality of the supplied CO2 gas. Have you ever carbonated directly to glass?

Seems like carbonating into a glass San Pellegrino container should be safe, no? Is it possible using the carbonator system to bottle quickly enough to preserve the carbonation and then be able to store it at room temp.

Is it possible to literally use the carbonator system and then cap them by hand and have a effective tasting water? This would be for 12oz glass bottles using crown caps. Jeff, bottling water and manually capping by hand will be just as effective as any mechanical method. It helps to think of carbonated water as water in which CO2 gas is dissolved. The level to which CO2 is dissolved in said water is a factor of 1 temperature and 2 pressure.

It also helps to realize that carbonation and de-carbonation process is fairly slow on its own no shaking or other physical intervention. Once in a bottle, at room temperature, the water temperature will go up, forcing CO2 out of the water.

The pressure drop will also cause the water to lose carbonation. The two are connected and will try to find equilibrium. Fill that bottle half way and you will notice a significant drop in carbonation over time — CO2 will be forced out of the water to fill out the head space until the pressure in the head space and the water are equal.

In practical terms, I can only speak to storing carbonated water in double walled beer growlers. We use three of those at home, one 64oz and two 32oz ones. I fill them out all the way to the top and the water. When I open mine typically hours later, sometimes even longer than that, the water is still cold and fully carbonated.

Towards the end of the day as the water is consumed, the carbonation level drops but you still get a fairly decent amount of carbonation. In plastic bottles, as the water is consumed, you will be losing carbonation at a faster rate as the water will be increasing its temperature much faster than in a insulated beer growler. The timeline assumes room temperature water to start and no assistance like shaking or using carbonation stones.

If the water is cold — 40F or below I can fully carbonate a keg by slightly underfilling it and shaking for minutes. I did it a few times then got a second keg — problem solved. If you do, pressure will fall as water is consumed, leading to lower water pressure at the tap progressively slower pours and loss of carbonation. Oh, I see. The tricky part is have it fit in the system, large or small, not interfere with carbonation process, cleaning, making sure the water is purified in time, etc.

Too many variables. And like you said, they are quite large. My preferred choice is to use clean water to fill the tanks so I have no need to incorporate carbon filtration into the system. However, there is an easy solution, you can simply use the carbon stick to remove impurities from the water before using for carbonation.

I built The Carbonator rig as described in this article and it works great! I carbonate at about 45 PSI. My technique is:. Pre-chill water in fridge to just above freezing. Apply carbonator cap loosely, burp air out of the bottle, and tighten cap. Carbonate at 45 PSI, shaking gently for 20 seconds. Loosen carbonator cap and burp CO2 out of bottle.

Re-tighten cap. Continue carbonating, shaking gently for 15 seconds. Remove carbonator cap and cap bottle and return to fridge. A very refreshing drink, indeed. Turns out this is really easy to do, and the payoff is well worth it. Carbonating individual Awesome to hear that, John. Thanks for the feedback on your experience with building your carbonator. Sort of like the Kishu charcoal you see in water pitchers. Well, it is a part of the chain, not the carbonation system. I use RO water which uses a charcoal filter as one stage.

In the system itself it will be tricky. I think I got all my supplies ordered using your guide. Thanks a TON! Quick question about filling the kegs. Is it important to fill the kegs completely full of water to eliminate any non-C02 gases? No, not important in any significant way. Shaking the keg will give you the quickest carbonation, but if have a two keg setup like mine that is not an issue.

Keep the bottle in a cool, dark place and out of direct sunlight. Gently squeeze the bottle from time to time to check when it feels very solid and has little give. This means that the beverage has been carbonated.

Refrigerate the beverage for up to 2 weeks. When the beverage has reached the right amount of carbonation, store it in the refrigerator until it is served. The cooler temperature in the refrigerator will prevent it from carbonating further.

It may be helpful to do this over a sink. Method 3. Gather a CO2 tank, regulator, keg coupler, carbonation cap, and a plastic bottle. Prepare all of the necessary equipment before you begin.

The keg coupler needs to be a gas-in ball lock type and the carbonation cap can be either plastic or stainless steel depending on what you prefer. Carbonation caps fit standard 1 or 2 L 34 or 68 fl oz plastic bottles. CO2 tanks can be filled at sporting or welding supply stores.

Always use a plastic bottle when you are carbonating your own beverage rather than glass. This is because there is always the potential for the bottle to shatter if too much pressure is supplied and plastic is a much safer material in this scenario.

Connect the CO2 tank to the CO2 pressure regulator. Use your hands to screw the CO2 pressure regulator onto the CO2 tank valve. Once you have tightened it as much as you can, use a wrench to tighten it further.

Attach the gas-in ball lock keg coupler to the CO2 pressure regulator. This is how the CO2 gas will travel at a reduced pressure into the plastic bottle. Screw the keg coupler onto the CO2 pressure regulator valve, which is found just below the reading meter. Open the CO2 tank valve and adjust the pressure to psi. Turn the CO2 tank valve anticlockwise to open it. Use the dial on the CO2 regulator to change the pressure. Mixer drinks such as tonics require higher pressure, so try psi for these.

You can carbonate any volume of beverage using a carbonation system. Make sure that you leave some space at the top of the bottle, as the beverage will expand when you add the CO2. Store the beverage in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours prior to carbonating it.

Squeeze the bottle and insert the carbonation cap. Gently squeeze the bottle to force the beverage to rise to the very top. Then screw the carbonation cap onto the opening of the bottle. The bottle will remain slightly scrunched once you attach the carbonation cap. Attach the keg coupler to the carbonation cap.

The gas-in ball lock keg coupler attaches the gas line to the carbonation cap, which means that CO2 will be able to enter the bottle. Simply push the keg coupler onto the top of the carbonation cap to attach it. Turn the valve on the CO2 regulator to open it. Twist the valve anticlockwise to open the gas line between the CO2 tank and the bottle. The bottle will instantly inflate to its regular size which indicates that the carbonation process is complete.

Shake the bottle for 30 seconds. Keep the bottle connected to the keg coupler using the carbonation cap. Vigorously shake the bottle so that the CO2 distributes evenly. Otherwise, all of the CO2 will remain at the top of the bottle. This is because it may cause the liquid to backflow up into the gas line and regulator. This means that you have correctly carbonated the beverage.

Shut the gas valve and remove the carbonation cap. Turn the gas valve on the CO2 regulator to close the supply of gas. Pull the keg coupler off the carbonation cap. Unscrew the carbonation cap from the bottle. Drink the carbonated beverage or use the carbonation cap to keep it fizzy. Pour the beverage into glasses to serve it straight away.

If you want to keep it for later, place the carbonation cap back on to keep the CO2 inside the bottle and store the bottle in the refrigerator. I want to make a unique soda with beet root sugar. Can I use the dry ice and yeast methods together? One of the easiest ways to carbonate water is by adding dry ice to it. The very same Dry Ice used at Halloween to make that smokey effect.

Dry Ice is basically frozen CO2 gas now when its added to water it dissolves and carbonates the water. Dry Ice is perfect for carbonating large amounts of beverages for events such as birthday parties and Halloween parties. It is not a good method to carbonate water on a day to day basis this is because dry ice is very hard to store and you would lose pounds of it every day to evaporation. I usually buy my Dry Ice at Walmart, though I think it is available at Costco and at other retailers.

This method involves making your own carbonation set up.