Water Carbonator!!

Ok, so Stacey and I drink a lot of fizzy water. Normally with a lime or two squeezed in. Delicious. But, that means that we buy cans of club soda from Safeway allll the time. I've been toying with the idea of building my own water carbonating contraption for a while, but I've been a bit too lazy. Until now!!!!

Parts:

• 5lb CO2 tank from beer supply store
• Dual gage CO2 regulator from beer supply store (one gage tells you how full the tank is, the other one sets the output pressure)
• 5/16" beverage tubing from beer supply store
• Locking ball air chuck from auto supply store
• Barb fitting to attach air chuck to tubing
• Hose clamps

Ok, so put all that together and you have the carbonator, but you still need a way to get the CO2 into the bottle and keep it there.

I built some valved caps by taking the cap off of a 1 liter soda bottle, drilling a hole in the top, and then installing a valve stem from the auto parts store.

Parts:

• Screw on soda bottle cap
• Valve stem

How to use it:

1. Chill water (cold water absorbs more CO2)
2. Squeeze air out of bottle, tighten cap (this makes more room for CO2)
3. Attach locking air chuck
4. Set regulator to ~45psi
5. Open regulator valve
6. Shake for ~20 seconds. As you shake, you'll hear more CO2 flowing from the regulator as the CO2 is absorbed into the water. Once it stops flowing, you're done.
7. Enjoy!!! Or store in the fridge for later.

Once the CO2 runs out (in a year, maybe...) it can be refilled for $10-$20 at beer supply or welding supply store.