Bubbly Rebuttal

Disclaimer: I see that this blog could easily become a venue for the Chicken and me to hash out our grievances, our disputes, our conflicting viewpoints, but, more than likely, it will be a place where the differences in our personalities receive fresh air.

Yes, when we started discussing how to reduce the amount of seltzer bottles we sent out with the recycling each week, I immediately started thinking about the history of seltzer and how it was made.

What I found is that it has been around for centuries, but in its natural form, it is mineral water. These natural springs omitted or omit water that contain a certain amount of dissolved minerals and elements that can have a positive effect on ones health. In ancient times those springs were considered sacred, and often spawned surrounding communities. Not all types are bubbly like seltzer, but there are those that have carbonation because of a chemical reaction. According to mineralwater.org there are 3000 brands from 125 countries still being produced, including 183 from the United States. Quite a few brands I recognize: Fiji, San Pellegrino, Perrier, Evian, Mount Olympus, Polar Spring, etc. etc, but short of finding my own spring, I doubt I’ll be able to go directly to the source.

So the ultimate question is how do I provide bubbly good water. The contraptions that the Chicken found are compact, and even a bit cute. I’d imagined having a few glass seltzer bottles like I’ve seen in old movies, but I didn’t think about the CO2. They come with small canisters of compressed gas, which when released create bubbles. Some are one shot, others last longer, and the Penguin requires the consumer to send back each empty for a full one.

This provoked a thought. How did the cowboys bubble their water? I didn’t think the back of the bar was littered in small CO2 canisters. So I went searching. But I discovered that I was partially wrong, because, in 1772, Joseph Priestly figured out how to impregnate water with gas, thus causing effervescence. Until the invention of passing pressurized carbon dioxide through water, the process consisted of different scientific methods of harnessing CO2 naturally present in the air, and encouraging it to dissolve ion water, thus creating bubbles.

I do not think the Chicken would be hip to having a science lab in her 300 square-foot apartment, but I continued thinking about other ways. I knew I would come around to her way of thinking, and support buying one of the seltzer makers she wants, but it is my nature to research and exhaust all possibilities, especially DIY projects, which leads me to my next discovery.

In the research process I stumbled upon a detailed website about installing a seltzer-making system in the house. Yes, more space than we have would be necessary to accommodate such a device, but the idea is intriguing, no? If there was room would it not be better to have the bubbly water come straight from the tap, and to only replace the large canister of CO2 every 500 bottles. That would be an incredible savings, and would eliminate tremendous waste. Nonetheless, like the worms, it will have to wait. (I am beginning to recognize a pattern here.) If you are interested in the DIY carbonated-water system, check out: http://www.truetex.com/carbonation.htm. (Also I am no expert, and perhaps the system is faulty, so if you are an expert and find flaws, please let us know.)

PS. While researching seltzer, I discovered that it is a “genericized trademark” like Xerox, Hoover, Band Aid, Kleenex, and Frisbee, which is a name brand that has been used with such frequency that it becomes the colloquial description of said product. Seltzer is from the German brand Selters.