ᐅ Soda dispenser – carbonated water from the tap

Okay, maybe I’ll buy one again. It’s probably just been too long.

I have read more about this in the meantime. It seems that owning a Sodastream may not necessarily be cost-effective, especially if you usually buy bottled water at a discount store. This leaves out travel expenses to the store as well as the environmental impact. Of course, you have to carry bottles, etc. You can, of course, buy mineral or premium bottled water. Whether that makes sense is another question. For example, I always bring 1.5-liter (5-pint) bottles with me to work, so I would need to make sparkling water with the Sodastream and then transfer it into a 1.5-liter (5-pint) bottle. It would certainly be easier with sparkling water straight from the tap, but that comes with a very high initial cost.

World-e schrieb:
And it seems that using a Sodastream doesn’t necessarily pay off.

Hi!

That’s true. But that wasn’t the point of the previous posts.

The cost per liter with the Sodastream is about 13 cents (carbonation, water), excluding depreciation of the device. If your tap water doesn’t taste good, it’s really pointless.
We bought the device with glass bottles for around 100 euros.
Assuming a 5-year lifespan and 2 liters of water per day, the depreciation adds roughly 3 cents per liter. That makes the total cost about 16 cents per liter.

For us, the main reason was to stop constantly collecting and returning empty bottles. That is a) unnecessary work and b) takes time. It’s also not really recycling. Some of it gets incinerated, other parts travel halfway around the world by ship only to come back as plastic product-xy.

Best regards,
Thorsten

I have been using my soda maker for over 20 years now (the older model with plastic bottles). Occasionally, the plastic bottles need to be replaced (strangely, the bottles don’t wear out as quickly as the caps).

For me, the main advantage has been not having to carry water bottles anymore, while enjoying drinking water with mineral water quality. Additionally, tap water is tested much more thoroughly than table or mineral water.
I wouldn’t want to be without my soda maker anymore. However, I am seriously considering the premium model with glass bottles. Unfortunately, it has a different thread and requires a new carbonator unit (it would have been nice if this had been standardized so I could use the glass bottles with my old device, but I guess that’s just a way to make money...).

Climbee schrieb:
We have drinking water of mineral water quality. In addition, drinking water is tested much more thoroughly than table water or mineral water.

We also have drinking water of this quality—extremely good and especially very tasty!

Climbee schrieb:
Premium model for glass bottles

When we first got the idea to buy a SodaStream, we went out spontaneously. The local store still had exactly one left: with glass bottles. So we bought that one. The glass bottles are great. Only afterwards did I realize by chance that the plastic bottles have a printed expiration date.
Recently, glass bottles were available at the nearby discount store for little money, so I bought three more. They are easy to clean (dishwasher safe), and you can even put such a bottle on the table when you have guests.

Climbee schrieb:
I've had mine for more than 20 years now

That gives hope it will last longer than the 5 years I had predicted.

I think you can expect it to last longer. I use mine quite frequently.
But just glass bottles alone aren’t exactly what I want. I also take the bottles with me to the gym, sauna, etc., where plastic bottles are quite practical. There are even some that are dishwasher safe.
Overall, glass bottles look nicer and are generally more appealing to me.
As I said: it would be great if you could use a steamer for both types of bottles.
Maybe that will come in the future...