Home Carbonation System...Cheap, Healthy, and Green.

Step 6 Cap It All Off...

Drill a small hole in the center of the bottle cap (from the top down), and then GRADUALLY use larger and larger drill bits until you enlarge the hole to 15/32"...1/2" will also work if you only have a limited number of drill bits.

Pull the top of the tire valve up through the hole with a pair of pliers until it pops snugly into place.

Comments

[woody558]

can I use a bike pump for this?

[Esmagamus]

No. Air is not CO2, so, you can't carbonate water with air. Water dissolves CO2, not air.

[Pazzerz]

Correction: Air does dissolve into water. It is why fish can breathe. It is also why aeration at your local sewage plant works to help the microscopic critters in the sewage to breathe and eat the solids in the water, thereby helping them to clean up the water.

On another note: Cold water absorbs the CO2 faster, but it also releases it faster, thus the need to keep the bottles capped.

I worked in wastewater treatment for a number of years...

[MathiasAlvin]

What about one of those CO2 bike inflators? I think this idea would work great with one of those. You could just keep it in your kitchen drawer.

[ccopyrites1986]

there is a drink mixer (what the three stooges used to use to spray water at each other) that is essentially just water in a container being pressurized by a CO2 cartridge from a bike pump or whatever.

that its actual use is to make seltzer water.

[misfist]

Are you talking about a soda syphon?

Like this one: http://www.amazon.com/iSi-2248-ISI-Soda-Siphons/dp/B0033YU0G4

If so, it's made to make seltzer (soda water) and uses a small CO2 cartridge.

[killbox]

ive done this, if so be sure to use the canisters for dusting, they are less likely to have oil in them. also that technique lacks the pressure regulator hes using, while sodabottles can static test up to 200psi, i had one catastrophically blow out a 3 liter bottle.

It blew out one of the "feet of the bottle" rocketed it into my ceiling, smashed my lightfixture and then broke a window. All the while hosing down my kitchen.

[Arx]

dusting canisters could also be hydrofluorocarbons instead of CO2.

The biggest problem with those little containers is that they're tiny. you'll be using a $0.50 cartridge to make a bottle of water. Even the store-bought Soda makers are too expensive.

Get a 20lb tank, and It'll last a long time. I've had mine for around a year, and haven't had to fill it yet.
A friend of mine got a 10lb a little while later, and is just running out of gas now.

A refill is about $20. Less than the cost of one of the little refills for one of the storebought ones that only does a couple dozen bottles.

[MathiasAlvin]

AwWW! That just sealed the deal for me! I like a little danger in my seltzer!

[frollard]

You could, but while CO2 is CO2, bike inflator whippets aren't guaranteed food safe, and might have contaminants in there.

[dchall8]

Point of order. I agree you cannot carbonate water with air because air is mostly nitrogen. At best you'd be 'nitrogenating' the water. Aerate is probably a better term. All gasses can dissolve in water. The colder the better. CO2 charging with yeast was probably the first carbonation method. Now we overcharge water with CO2 - much faster than waiting for yeast to go to work. You still cannot use a bike pump unless you live in a CO2 universe and don't mind the volatile oils used to lubricate the pump in your drink.

[magicruss]

why not add a injector that press fit into the under side of the cap vale (possibly a crimped piece of brass or copper tubing )that projects into the liquid .that way you you carbonate two directions at once

[keng]

don't use brass or copper cuz prolonged contact with seltzer will force chemicals to leach out. use stainles instead.

[dchall8]

Can you explain that a little more, please. Copper is standard in the distillation industry because copper is antiseptic - it kills germs on contact. What chemicals are leached from CO2 and copper interaction?

[JoeMenthol]

VERY IMPORTANT!!!
NEVER use copper or brass fittings when carbonating beverages or dealing with carbonic acid (a product of carbonation).  Carbonic acid reacts with copper and copper alloys to produce poisonous byproducts.  ONLY use stainless steel fittings when setting up a system like this for any kind of carbonation, and never store carbonated beverages in copper or brass containers.

[cygnosis]

Just to be clear, the copper and/or brass in this system is only in contact with the CO2, not the carbonated water. CO2 regulators for use in beverage carbonation are commonly made of brass and pose no real health risk.  The Beverage Factory sells one, in fact. 

In this system the internals of the bicycle tire valve are the only piece that may come in contact with carbonic acid.  Whether they are food safe or not, I can't say.  But in general you shouldn't be scared to use brass for your CO2 line.

[Mtalus]

For people who like to,...umm..twist things, you can get valves that have a threaded shank and a compression nut seal. It's what I used just because I had one around. The auto parts store is loaded with options. I don't worry about using a metal stemmed valve as I use this top only to carbonate and then switch out. At any rate the rubber stems have a metal core as well. Works for carbonating homebrew too, and in such an elegant bottle. Sure to impress.