Home Soda Fountains 

Next to a small bar and beer kegerator, a soda fountain is the next item most people consider when setting up a nice game room. And no wonder why. Walk into any fast food restaurant and there sits a soda machine, waiting to fill and refill your cup with a seemingly endless supply of soda.

Soda fountains are great – you just walk up and refill your glass again and again. And a fountain can save you money in the long run too. Soda syrup is typically sold in 5 gallon BIB boxes in the $35 - $45 range and since most soda syrups mix is 1:5, or 1 part syrup to 5 parts water a BIB box can easily make 35 gallons of soda. And at the high range, that translates into a savings of $85 per BIB box of soda.

Here’s the math:

5 gallons at a mix ratio of 1:5 = 35 gallons of soda
At 128 ounces / gallon, you get 4480 ounces total
This is equal to 373 cans of soda
At $0.35 / can (local on sale price), 373 cans of soda = $130.55
$130.00 - $45.00 = $85 per BIB box SAVINGS!
Or a savings of $0.22 / can
At these costs, your soda fountain will dispense soda for about $0.12 a can

Or looking at this for a family who drinks 3 cases of soda a week:

Cost per can retail = $0.35 (based on local on sale price)
Cost per can from your soda dispenser = $0.12
Cost per can savings = $0.22
Weekly cost savings assuming 3 cases / week = $15.84
Annual cost savings assuming 3 cases / week = $823.68

But a soda fountain is just the end delivery point of a much more complex system. I’ve lost count of the times someone has called the shop with something along the lines of “I just bought a soda dispenser for $200 and I need the hoses to hook it up.” Then he will get sticker shock when I quote another $600 - $900 worth of racks, pumps, tubing, etc…, depending if he wants new or refurbished equipment. And after he gets over his sticker shock, then I explain that even with all of this stuff I can’t guarantee that his prize $200 dispenser will work because I don’t know what condition it is in!

If you are really interested in installing your own home soda fountain than it’s always best to walk past that $200 flea market deal unless you have a real in depth understanding of the machines and how they work. You are always better off buying a complete package from a reputable dealer like Mark Powers and Company. The overall cost will be less and the install will be relatively painless. We offer a broad selection of new and like new refurbished machines & accessories.

Answer a few questions about your install to make sure we include the right equipment and accessories and we can ship a ready to install package all shrink wrapped onto one pallet. The pallet will contain all of the parts you need down to the Oetiker clamps used on the tubing. We offer a full line of refurbished soda dispensers, carbonator pumps and CO2 regulators that can save you additional money.

At a minimum, you will need the following for a home installed soda fountain.

The Soda Fountain – the part you see
BIB pump – 1 per flavor – delivers soda syrup from the BIB boxes to the dispense heads
Carbonator pump – makes soda water by carbonating incoming tap water and delivers the water to the fountain
Primary CO2 regulator – provides pressurized, regulated CO2 to the carbonator pump
Secondary CO2 regulator – feeds off the primary CO2 regulator, provides regulated CO2 to run the BIB pumps
Pump board – usually includes the secondary regulator and BIB pimps, keeps all of your BIB pumps and hoses organized
In-line water pressure regulator – installs in the main water supply
In-line water filter – installs in the main water supply & is used to remove chlorine flavor from the water supply
BIB rack – to hold soda syrups, unless you have an alternate rack or shelf
Beverage tubing – 1’ per flavor + 1’ for soda water space X 1.2 X the distance from the BIB pumps to the fountain
BIB tubing – 3’ per flavor
QCD’s – 1 per flavor, used to connect to the BIB boxes
Oetiker clamps – 4 per flavor + 2 for the soda water line

Plus you will need to supply:

A dedicated 20 amp circuit for power
A drain for the fountain to drain into
A fresh (tap) water supply – the same type supply line you would use for a typical refrigerator ice maker
If your fountain uses a cold plate for chilling the soda water and syrup, plenty of ice - we have alternatives to a cold plate system that you will never need to load with ice

Please call us for a quote. We'll be happy to help.

Mark Powers & Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 72 • 1821 Henry Street • Guntersville, AL 35976
Phone: (800) 633-2256 Fax: (800) 216-6606

E-Mail: orders@markpowers-and-company.com