SodaStream and sparkling water makers: which machine, what a cylinder really costs per litre, and why the water you put in matters

A sparkling water maker is a CO2 cylinder in a stand: screw or click a bottle of cold water on, press, and it’s fizzy. In Australia the category is SodaStream, and the machine to buy is the Terra: $119 as a starter pack from SodaStream Australia on 1 November 2026 (Bunnings Marketplace had it at $163.35), with the Quick Connect cylinder, a dishwasher-safe 1 L bottle and a two-year warranty. The others are the same fizz in a different body, except the Duo, which carbonates in glass. The real cost is the cylinder, which is $20 an exchange at Officeworks or Reddy Express, and the real quality difference is the water you put in. We can’t show Amazon prices; the Amazon buttons show today’s.

Which SodaStream should you buy?

Buy the Terra unless one specific thing is worth the extra. The Terra starter pack is the machine, one Quick Connect cylinder and one 1 L Fuse bottle; it takes 1 L and 0.5 L plastic bottles, and SodaStream warns that the pink Quick Connect cylinder is the only one that fits. The Art ($200.40 at Bunnings Marketplace) is the Terra with a lever and stainless trim, for a kitchen where the machine lives on the bench. The Duo ($299 at SodaStream, $284.95 at Bunnings) is the one that carbonates in a 1 L glass carafe as well as a plastic Fuse bottle, both dishwasher safe, which is the pick if you serve from the bottle or don’t want plastic; SodaStream states a two-year replacement warranty on it, and the Amazon listing’s one-year figure is the seller’s. The Enso is the stainless designer machine with a click bottle mount, on Amazon Australia. The electric E-Terra, with three carbonation settings and a light show, had no featured offer on Amazon when we checked.

Everything except the Duo’s glass comes down to the same cylinder and the same bubbles, so don’t pay for looks you won’t see.

What a cylinder really costs per litre

SodaStream rates a 60 L cylinder at up to 60 litres of sparkling water, “depending on the carbonation level”. At Officeworks’ $20 swap-and-go price that’s about 33 cents a litre; at Bunnings’ $49 spare price (a full cylinder you keep, not an exchange) it’s 82 cents until you start exchanging. Reddy Express exchanges for $20 at participating stores, The Good Guys listed the blue screw-in cylinder at $35 and SodaStream a spare Quick Connect at $36. The catch is the yield: SodaStream’s own page says the usable carbonating volume is less than the bottle’s full volume, and a Good Guys reviewer reported about 30 bottles a cylinder, which would be around 67 cents a litre. If you like it very fizzy, budget on the higher figure. Either way it’s cheaper than bottled sparkling water once the machine has paid for itself, which at $119 and a litre a day is a few months.

Keep a spare. The machine is useless with an empty cylinder, and the exchange is a trip; $36 from SodaStream buys the second one and the exchanges keep both going.

The water you put in it

Two things change the result more than the machine does. Temperature: CO2 dissolves far better in cold water, so a bottle from the fridge fizzes harder on the same press and the cylinder lasts longer; SodaStream’s bottles are made to live in the fridge door. And chlorine: carbonation sharpens the taste of chlorine and chloramine rather than hiding it, so tap water that’s fine still can taste of the pool once it’s sparkling. A filter jug with a carbon cartridge takes it out for about $10 a month, and our city tap water pages explain why Sydney, Melbourne and Perth water carries more of it than Brisbane’s. Carbonate plain water only; SodaStream says to add syrup or juice after, because sugar foams through the nozzle and the warranty doesn’t cover the mess.

Bottles, warranty and where to buy

The plastic carbonating bottles have an expiry date printed on them because they hold pressure; replace them when it passes, and run them through the dishwasher only if they’re the dishwasher-safe Fuse type. The Duo’s glass carafe has no such date. SodaStream states at least two years on the Terra, plus two more if you register, and a two-year replacement warranty on the Duo; buy from SodaStream or Bunnings and register it, because the Amazon listings’ warranty fields are the seller’s and the Duo’s says one year.

Keeping it clean

The machine itself has no water path, so there’s nothing inside to scale up; the parts that need attention are the bottle and the carbonating nozzle. Rinse the bottle after every use and run the dishwasher-safe ones through the machine weekly, because a bottle that sits with a splash of water in it grows a film at the shoulder. Wipe the nozzle where the bottle seals, which collects syrup if anyone has flavoured in the bottle rather than the glass. Store the plastic bottles out of sunlight and the fridge is fine; heat and UV age the plastic that holds the pressure, which is the reason for the expiry date. The cylinder needs nothing: when the fizz goes weak, it’s empty, and it goes back to the exchange. A machine looked after this way is a ten-year appliance, and the Terra’s registration warranty covers the first four.

The one trap

Buying the wrong cylinder. The pink Quick Connect cylinder fits the Terra, Art, Duo, Enso and E-Terra; the blue screw-in cylinder fits the older Spirit and other screw machines, and SodaStream’s Terra page says the two are not interchangeable. Exchange points stock both, and the counters don’t always ask. Check the colour on the way out, and if you own a screw-in machine, the $35 blue cylinder at The Good Guys is yours, not the $36 pink one.

What we left out and why

• SodaStream E-Terra (Amazon Australia). The electric Terra with three carbonation settings; no featured offer on 1 November 2026.
• SodaStream Spirit (Amazon Australia). The older screw-in machine, listed as a US kit with a mail-in rebate and a US phone number; four left.
• SodaStream Terra value packs and Summer packs ($165 to $175.95 at SodaStream). The Terra with extra bottles or flavours; the starter pack is the machine.
• Flavour syrups and Bubly drops. Not water.
• Philips and Aarke sparkling water makers. We found no Australian retailer page with a price on the day.
• Soda siphons and CO2 chargers. A different, bar-style product.