The Invention Of Carbonated Water

Did you know that on average, an American person drinks 50 gallons of carbonated soft drinks? Without a chemist named Joseph Priestley, this may have not been possible. He invented the first unnaturally carbonated water, which is now part of the second most popular beverage in the U.S., soda.

You may know the year 1767 for being the first year of the Townshend Acts during the American Revolution, but this was also the year that Joseph Priestly created the first glass of artificially carbonated water. People had already been drinking naturally carbonated water from springs, but Priestley made a way for people to get it more easily. This may not seem like such a big deal, but every year, soft drink sales bring in a whopping 65 million dollars annually for popular soda companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Although carbonated water is now made by applying extreme pressure to carbon dioxide and water to force them together, Priestly made the first bubbly water in a brewery. He did this by first placing a bowl of water over a vat of beer, which would cause the carbon dioxide from the fermenting beer to enter the water, carbonating it.

        My family’s favorite sodas are root beer, orange and grape soda, for floats. I wasn’t allowed to drink soda until I was 9 years old, because it is bad for your teeth and full of sugar. I also like to drink flavored sparkling water, which I can usually find in the refrigerator.

Priestly did not create sparkling water as a beverage, but thought that the bubbles would help sailors from getting seasick. Later in the 1700s, other people made carbonated water a beverage, but the next time you take a sip of ice cold Fanta or Mountain Dew, thank Joseph Priestly.