No Sparkling Water Available Galway City

thisNthat

I know, first world problems 'eh

I tried Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes stores, Tesco's, Tesco express, Centra and not 1 pack of sparking water available in any of them.

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this around the country or is it just Galway city? maybe someone knows what the issue is with supply?

Are we to go back drinking still? Oh, the humanity! :rolleyes::)

Missyelliot2

Also a problem in Cork! There's none in my local Aldi or Tesco. It's been this way for the past few weeks.

It's made me think about how much plastic I am buying though.....

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Recent CO2 shortages across Europe, probably.

_Whimsical_

I wonder if this is due to the carbon dioxide shortage at the moment.


https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/carbon-dioxide-shortage-threatening-uks-supply-beer-and-crumpets-180969533/

Missyelliot2

Amir Plain Funnel wrote: »

Recent CO2 shortages across Europe, probably.

Aha.... that is exactly the reason why.... thanks!:)

Squeaksoutloud

Same in Dublin! Haven't been able to get a hold on some the last 2/3 weeks. Was wondering was it just me or the hot weather.

dudara

There are CO2 shortages across Europe, it’s affectingg the production of all carbonated drinks including artificially carbonated sparkling water. Naturally sparkling water should still be fine though.

thisNthat

And where can we buy this Naturally sparkling water as none of the major stores have it or any sparkling water?

dudara wrote: »

There are CO2 shortages across Europe, it’s affectingg the production of all carbonated drinks including artificially carbonated sparkling water. Naturally sparkling water should still be fine though.

dudara

Evian, Badoit, San pellegrino etc are all naturally sparkling. I’d imagine though that demand might be high for them at the moment if the other brands are not available. Other than that, I know as much as anyone here.

theteal

Could be worse. How’s the beer aisle???

Lux23

Is this a piss-take?

Rulmeq

theteal wrote: »

Could be worse. How’s the beer aisle???

Guinness uses Nitrogen, so there's always that.

s8n

ahhhhh, had wondered why I couldnt get it anywhere this week

BIGT4464

Have not seen it in Aldi for at least a month.

BIGT4464

Rulmeq wrote: »

theteal wrote: »

Could be worse. How’s the beer aisle???

Guinness uses Nitrogen, so there's always that.

Mass produced factory beer uses CO2 also

coylemj

Guinness might use pressurised nitrogen to propel the beer out of the barrel i.e. the gas cylinders they supply to the pubs might contain nitrogen but the 'fizz' in beer is CO2 which is a by-product of the fermentation process. The yeast breaks down the sugars to alcohol and CO2. So for bottles and cans, the breweries don't need any external source of gas.

L1011

Guinness uses a mix of nitrogen and co2 anyway; and bottled/canned beer does require additional co2.

drunkmonkey

Local brewery ran out didn't have enough to bottle more beer, kept enough to keep the draft flowing so wasn't all bad.

fussyonion

Loads in Lidl, Ballycullen, Lidl in Nutgrove and Lidl in Tallaght today.

BIGT4464

CO2 production is a byproduct of ammonia production. Natural gas is split into ammonia and CO2. It is use is as a fertiliser, and this summer many ammonia plants have shut for maintenance at the same time. It is used in beers , mostly lagers to create the unnatural fizzyness like hino or bud

RobbingBandit

Buy a sodastream OP before it's too late

tedpan

dudara wrote:

Evian, Badoit, San pellegrino etc are all naturally sparkling. I’d imagine though that demand might be high for them at the moment if the other brands are not available. Other than that, I know as much as anyone here.

Huh? The water is not naturally sparkling, it's called mineral water because it has essential minerals in it. San Pellegrino, evian etc add co2 when bottling, the same as any other manufacturer.

dudara

tedpan wrote: »

Huh? The water is not naturally sparkling, it's called mineral water because it has essential minerals in it. San Pellegrino, evian etc add co2 when bottling, the same as any other manufacturer.

Thanks for this comment. Did a little extra reading. Turns out San Pellegrino is not naturally sparkling, but Badoit and Perrier are (for example). However, they seem to extract the water and the CO2 separately from the well, then recombine. Interesting, you learn something every day

tedpan

dudara wrote:

Thanks for this comment. Did a little extra reading. Turns out San Pellegrino is not naturally sparkling, but Badoit and Perrier are (for example). However, they seem to extract the water and the CO2 separately from the well, then recombine. Interesting, you learn something every day

Yep, I think Perrier do the same. They extract it and then add it back in when bottling to ensure the gas doesn't affect the taste.

Maybe it'll be a quiz question one day

fritzelly

Take two (soon to be banned) plastic straws, place in flat water and blow really hard in one straw whilst sucking through the other.

Though why anyone would want to end up burping after drinking water is beyond me. I mean seriously why are you buying fizzy water?

NinetyTwoTeam

fritzelly wrote: »

Take two (soon to be banned) plastic straws, place in flat water and blow really hard in one straw whilst sucking through the other.

Though why anyone would want to end up burping after drinking water is beyond me. I mean seriously why are you buying fizzy water?

it's for when you get to an age where you can't hack hangovers any more and also no longer crave the super sweet coke/7up etc options but still want some kind of fizzy drink that feels like a refreshing treat.

fizzyness + ice is refreshing but most fizzy drinks are either full of sugar or unpronounceable chemicals or both. hence, sparkling water is the ultimate drink for healthy adulting aka being a dry balls. i never used to like it either. but now im in my late 30s i go hard on the stuff.

thisNthat

Awhhh the good auld soda stream, that takes me back but don't they need/use the same gas that's causing this shortage?

RobbingBandit wrote: »

Buy a sodastream OP before it's too late

Victor

BIGT4464 wrote: »

CO2 production is a byproduct of ammonia production. Natural gas is split into ammonia and CO2.

This isn't the only process used. Coca Cola in Lisburn (Knockmore Hill) use CO2 from an on-site generator. https://www.contourglobal.com/asset/solutions-europe

https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/397607061#map=16/54.5082/-6.0928&layers=N

_Whimsical_

There was a piece on TV about it last week and the implications of a co2 shortage are much more serious than not being able to get fizzy drinks. Apparently they use it in the form of dry ice to package tissue samples that need to be sent to the lab from hospitals so some important clinical trials on cancer drugs in the UK are potentially going to be halted because they're isn't enough co2 available.

It's only going to last another month or two though. The shortage is caused because most of the co2 we use is a by product of the process of making fertiliser. Fertiliser plants close in the summer but reopen in September.

CeilingFly

C02 production is back approaching normal levels according to industry reports, however as there was such a shortage that production is being snapped up and premium price is being paid by some food producers esp the meat trade.

That has meant low value items such as low price bottled water and own brand mineral are being affected as priority is given to higher value products.

Its all meant to be back to normal by early August

dense

CO2 gas is the same gas that we pay carbon taxes on.


http://www.vrt.ie/vrtDetail.php?page=14



The good news is that right as we speak clever scientists are working on ways to suck this horrendous, climate changing gas out of the atmosphere.


There's far too much there apparently and not enough here.


https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/carbon-sequestration.php

L1011

Your car/boiler/fireplace don't produce food-grade CO2 and neither does carbon sequestering. It has to be CO2 and only CO2, not CO2,NO2 and other stuff.

rubadub

My tesco had lots of soda water, 25c for 1L, don't know how much different it is from regular bottled water. They also had lots of fizzy bottled water which was slightly flavoured.

Some beers are bottle conditioned, they cap them before they are fully brewed and the yeast goes on making CO2 which is then forced into the beer and makes it fizzy, how basic homebrew is made, you would usually see yeast sediment in the bottom. Though I expect some beers said to be bottle conditioned could well use CO2 in the process.

Soda stream is a quite expensive way to go, the canisters show as in stock in argos.

I drink a lot of fizzy water but can't bring myself to pay for San Pellegrino regularly. I drink enough that I ran the numbers on Soda Stream and it worked out more expensive than bottles. At least now I know I should have a contingency. :P

TerrorFirmer

Don't know if it's been mentioned but Terryland Fruit and Veg had loads of it the other day in 6x2L packs.

thisNthat

Good to know although their water is always left outside in the sun, I don't know if that would make a difference to it or not, doubt it makes a difference to still water but sparkling?

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Don't know if it's been mentioned but Terryland Fruit and Veg had loads of it the other day in 6x2L packs.

misstearheus

I don't know if ye'd have any interest in Flavoured Sparkling Water. But Tesco had Cases and Cases of the stuff the other day when I was in. Their own Brand Sparkling Water in an Orange & Mango Flavour, and there was a second Flavour as well, but I can't remember now. Think it was Blackcurrant and something else. 35c for a 1Litre Bottle. I bought some of the O&M but haven't tried it yet.

dense

L1011 wrote: »

Your car/boiler/fireplace don't produce food-grade CO2 and neither does carbon sequestering.

Nobody said it does, but at the end of the day C02 is C02.



It's hard to escape the irony that we're now being unsettled by a shortage of it

dense

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Don't know if it's been mentioned but Terryland Fruit and Veg had loads of it the other day in 6x2L packs.

Some Aldi's have Carbonated Soda Water as an alternative.

AndrewJRenko

fussyonion wrote: »

Loads in Lidl, Ballycullen, Lidl in Nutgrove and Lidl in Tallaght today.

Lidl Dundrum had the 1.5l bottles for 49c today, whereas it used to be 2l for 29c. Which one did you see in Lidl, please Fussy?

fussyonion

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

fussyonion wrote: »

Loads in Lidl, Ballycullen, Lidl in Nutgrove and Lidl in Tallaght today.

Lidl Dundrum had the 1.5l bottles for 49c today, whereas it used to be 2l for 29c. Which one did you see in Lidl, please Fussy?

The one in the green bottle. 500ml size. 'Saskia' it's called.
Picked up three more six packs today in Lidl in Ballycullen (Dublin)

banie01

fussyonion wrote: »

The one in the green bottle. 500ml size. 'Saskia' it's called.
Picked up three more six packs today in Lidl in Ballycullen (Dublin)

I always find the Saskia has quite a salty/sodium taste.
Not unpleasant but certainly unexpected

Dial Hard

rubadub wrote:

Soda stream is a quite expensive way to go, the canisters show as in stock in argos.

They're also made in Israel, in case people have any strong feelings about that (I don't, personally.)

I managed to wean myself off a long-standing 2 litre a day sparkling water habit recently as the number of plastic bottles I was going through (even drinking them in 2 litre bottles) was giving me serious guilt. I did consider a soda stream because I really dislike the mouthfeel of still water but the expense and the hassle of getting the canisters refilled put me off.

Managed to kick the habit by buying an infuser bottle and using cucumber to take the bland edge off the still water. You can obviously put any fruit you like in there but just be wary of citrus and very sweet fruits as sipping them in infused water all day every day can have a serious effect on your teeth.

rubadub

theteal wrote: »

Could be worse. How’s the beer aisle???

didn't check for tesco beer, but tesco 2L cider went up 40cent and I wondered if it was due to this.

They have all these signs up about the sugar tax for ages, you would think they would put a sign up explaining the lack of carbonated drinks.

I wonder how much more it would have cost them to source carbon dioxide. If 2L bottles doubled in price they are still a lot cheaper than branded stuff.

thisNthat

The 2L bottles are back in Aldi in Galway City today

I thought we might be heading for another bread situation :rolleyes:

Under His Eye

Do not mention the bread.