ON THE MANUFACTURE OF SODA WATER.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 17, 27 September 1842, Page 4

ON THE MANUFACTURE OF SODA WATER.

The following is an abstract of an interestihgj lecture on the above subject, delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, by Thomas Griffiths, Esq., Professor of Chemistry and Medical Physics, at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and formerly Chemical Assistant in the Laboratory of the Royal Institution. The pro- ! fessor commenced by stating that soda water was universally known as a delightful and beneficial 1 beverage; and being anxious to ascertain how the enormous Supplies of, soda water were obtained, inquired his friends for a manufacturer who w|s willing to shpw the machinery, and permit it to be Mr. Maugham, of the Polytechnic rlnstitution, in-, troduced him to Mr. Webb, of Colebrook Cottage, Islington, who is the largest manu-l facturer .of-soda water in the metropolis.! This gentleman conducted Professor Griffiths; throughout his extensive and well-appointed manufactory, explained the whole process, and permitted drawings to be made of the beautiful and perfect machinery, which were next amply and clearly discussed. Mr. Webb devotes the most scrupulous attention to the purity of the water, the soda, arid the gas which is employed, his tanks holding 4600 gallons of water each, to which sufficient carbonate of soda in fine crystals is added, so as to obtain a solution, which, when charged with gas, each bottle' shall contain fifteen grains of bicarbonate of soda, so that the article produced by him is actually soda water, while that sent out by the generality of other manufacturers is riot, but only gas water. The solution of carbonate of soda being completed in these tanks, is trans-? ferred in certain proportions, called charges, into very strong cylinders of copper thickly plated with silver inside, arid is now ready for the reception of the carbonic acid gas. This, by ordinary manufacturers, is generated in vessels of lead; but, in order to avoid ariy chance of danger from impregnation with that dangerous metal, Mr. Webb employs a vessel or generator constructed of slate, most ingeniously fitted so that not a particle of any metal can' come into contact with the gas, which is conducted through earthen tubes into a gasometer, made also of slate. The whole Of this apparatus was described by reference to several very large sectional diagrams. Mr; Webb’s source of the Carbonic rieid gas is chalk and. diluted Sulphufic "acid, the !griS ’ being 1 well washed before the gasqffieter bypassirig through a tank pfwater. Prom the gasometer it is .drawn through an earthen tube by the-fpree pirihps dry as {they are'techriicaliy CaUM, by a ten-horse and forped sinto tne .solutipii cif soila"iks||e? veiMs already mentioned, called the

Which: are>provided vtith\ safety-valves loaded to pOurtds ori the squar'e jncfrl and to-prevent thefgas’' from acquiring any;bad vtaint 7 from the i|jU|which must be used for Rubricating the! solidl |lungers of the theyarODvriaost ingopiat?eafchr:ascen4ingiand stroke, By a jet of : Water ; Caused j|> play them ; and it is- rematkablo t| how : jirittcH 'filth ‘is thus: cleared -frorri ■ them; vfliieh, without this precaution; would pass'! into the impregnator, and foul. soda-Vrater. .When the Ipressure ipf the gas lifts the: valves,Jhe action of ithe pumpsis suspended; arid the. carbonated 'soda-water riow awaits- the bottler;: Professor j Griffiths stated that Mr. Webb informed him, ‘that throughout the whole operation, up to this jpoint; : Cleanliness is most scrupulously attended ,;tO, and: is yet of,: the greatest importance regardirigwhat follows; the outsides of the bottles ' are washed by hand in running water, their interiors by a revolving bottle-brush driven by steam power, they are then ririced through two ' running waters, arid set to drain. The corks are ■ not Used in their common state, because they ! contain a quantity of extractive matter which the soda-water would dissolve out; and. become 1 tainted. with; and to remove: this r becomes an object of the greatest importance. . This is effected by placing 150 gross of corks in a large wooden tank, well battened oyer, which is then filled with a solution of carbonate Of soda, and heated by steam to 80 degrees for twelve hours; The dark extractive, or colouring matter of the corks thus dissolves out, arid a most filthy-look-ing liquid it is, judging from the specimen exhibited at the lecture-table. Then fresh water is let on, and allowed to stand some hours. It is afterwards run off: the corks are removed and dried by a steam heat. A number of boys are engaged in fitting these corks into the drained bottles, and this they do with great rapidity with the corking machine. They are then handed to the bottler, whose occupation is inost hazardous, he having to receive the highly charged soda-water from the impregnator, into such frail vessels as glass bottles. The dekveryipipe properly fitted with a Valvecock, proceeds from the impregnator to another part of the factory, and terminates in a stout column, on the floor near the wall, before which sits the bottler, his person protected by a thick leathern apron, his hands by thick woodsmen’s gloves, his face by a copper wire gauze mash, and his legs by a thick wooden screen (all this formidable apparatus was exhibited). By means of a treddle, or lever, something like the pedal of a pianoforte, he offers a bottle to a small jet in the column, turns the valve, and out gushes the soda water from the impregnator with prodigious violence, and fills the bottle; he then quickly inserts the cork, flogs it down with a wooden flogger, hands it to a boy, who receives it in a thick piece of leather, and ties down the cork; he then hands it to another boy, who ties it or wires it down across the first tie, and places it in a hamper, and now it is Soda water fit for seridirig into the market. If the slightest flaw exist in the bottle, or if it be too thin, then it bursts with a loud report the moment that the soda-water enters it, arid the fragments of the glass are driven with violence agairist the bottler; so that, if unprotected, he would suffer severe injury; and, indeed, in spite of all precautions, he occasionally meets with dreadful cuts and lacerations, or is deprived of sight by the fragments of the explosions. The fractures of bottles, during full work, amount to about twelve dozen per day at Mr. Webb’s manufactory, and it is really astonishing to think at what a cheap rate the soda-water is sold, when we reflect that the outlay of capital for the machinery alone, cost £4,000, and the risk and hazard'attendant upon its working is so great, both as regards damage, breakage, and human •life. Professor Griffiths stated that a great waste of the gas takes place in bottling, and hence arose the necessity of having so high a degree of compression in the impregnator, to adroit of this waste, so that the soda-water, -when bottled, though nothing like so strong in gas as wheri in the impregnator, still contains enough, that is, about three atmospheres, or three times the ordinary strength of the bottle, so as to be ‘‘up” when the strings or wires are cut away, and the sudden escape of the, greater portions of this, forms the well-known and -grateful effervescence. Such the Professor stated, was a popular account of the manufacture of soda-water by Mr. Webb, and his beverage can-be relied upon as actually containing bicarbonate of soda, which is a highly important'fact to the public at large, and to medical men in particular, who prescribe what is called sodawater in course of their practice, arid are often disappointed in its effects, from the simple circumstance that the beverage commonly sold as soda-water contains not a particle of alkaline matter, but is only gas-water, very carelessly produced; by. very simple and cheap machinery.