History
In 1767, Joseph Priestley invented carbonated water when he first discovered a method of infusing water with carbon dioxide when he suspended a bowl of water above a beer vat at a local brewery in Leeds, England. The air blanketing the fermenting beer—called 'fixed air'—was known to kill mice suspended in it. Priestley found water thus treated had a pleasant taste, and he offered it to friends as a cool, refreshing drink. In 1772, Priestley published a paper entitled "Impregnating Water with Fixed Air" in which he describes dripping "oil of vitriol" (sulfuric acid) onto chalk to produce carbon dioxide gas, and encouraging the gas to dissolve into an agitated bowl of water.
In 1771, chemistry professor Torbern Bergman independently invented a similar process to make carbonated water. In poor health and frugal, he was trying to reproduce naturally-effervescent spring waters thought at the time to be beneficial to health.
Carbonated water was introduced in the latter part of the 18th century, and reached Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta), India in 1822.
In the late eighteenth century, J. J. Schweppe (1740–1821) developed a process to manufacture carbonated mineral water, based on the process discovered by Joseph Priestley, founding the Schweppes Company in Geneva in 1783. In 1792 he moved to London to develop the business there.
Ányos Jedlik (1800–95) invented consumable soda-water that is a popular drink today. He also built a carbonated water factory in Budapest, Hungary. The process he developed for getting the CO2 into the water remains a mystery. After this invention, a Hungarian drink made of wine and soda water called "fröccs" (wine spritzers) was popular in Europe.
Since then, carbonated water is made by passing pressurized carbon dioxide through water. The pressure increases the solubility and allows more carbon dioxide to dissolve than would be possible under standard atmospheric pressure. When the bottle is opened, the pressure is released, allowing the gas to come out of the solution, forming the characteristic bubbles.
Read more about this topic: Carbonated Water
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