Our philosophy in business is to ensure we leave this planet better than we found it. We do this to build a better and healthier environment, now and for the next generation and instill in them this fundamental value. This mentally and action we refer to as the REVEL Life.
REVEL® was created with the very purpose to address and resolve the long-standing issues prevalent within the bottled water industry. These include:
- Plastic bottles littering our planet
- Unhygienic drinking directly out of the bottle
- Bottled water is being shipped into the U.S. from overseas
- Consuming water with altered pH or alkalinity
- Bottled water companies extracting water from our nations dwindling tap/ municipally supplied water
Issue
Plastic bottles littering our planet
Solution
To tackle the abundance of plastic bottles littering our planet REVEL was set to enter the market with a biodegradable plastic bottle only to find that biodegradable plastics in food and beverage were quickly banned by nearly all states, thus resulting in a shift in our production to a post-consumer recycled plastic for our bottles. Only recently have some states begun lifting the ban while imposing new and appropriate industry standards for strict testing protocols and certifications to ensure the validity and timeliness of degradation. Even with these new standards its estimated that it will take nearly a decade for the U.S. to implement the recycling infrastructure and protocols to handle and sort these new biodegradable plastics to ensure they are separated from traditional, non-biodegradable plastics. This is a massive and necessary undertaking.
Through our research and development, we ascertained that various plastics when bound with a biodegradable agent degrade at different rates. In compounding these resins, we made a remarkable discovery. We formulated a resin that uses 33% less plastic to produce a bottle when compared to traditional PET (polyethylene terephthalate) which is used worldwide in the production of nearly all plastic bottles for beverages. This discovery prompted the realization that our planet would be best served by lessening the amount of plastic produced and not just as it relates to bottled water. Our goal is to convert the worlds utilization of P.E.T. to this resin.
Upon the successful development and deployment of this technology, we are committed to offering the formula, engineering details, and production specifications to any and every business completely free of charge, without any fees, royalty or perpetuity.
In 2023 the global production of P.E.T. was 56.2 billion pounds or 25.5 million metric tons. This conversion would reduce the amount by 1/3 which would have lowered the annual volume to 37.5 billion pounds, eliminating 18.7 billion pounds of plastic or 8.5 million metric tons. The global demand for P.E.T. in 2030 is forecasted at 78.7 billion pounds or 35.7 million metric tons.* By integrating our resin it will eliminate 26.23 billion pounds or 11.9 million metric tons.*Production data provided by Statista, Published (January 10, 2024)
The benefits of this conversion far exceed merely lessening the amount of plastic production globally, it dramatically reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It diminishes the manufacturing of virgin plastic as well as its raw ingredients consisting of crude oil and natural gas, thereby directly reducing the transportation of both raw and finished materials.
To achieve our objective, we are asking for your help. Our modest, self-capitalized operation has taken our development to its limit and now requires specialized engineering and custom one-off machinery in order to produce this material and manufacture it to suit an infinite variety of applications.
Issue
Unhygienic drinking directly out of the bottle
Solution
Drinking directly out of the bottle allows a portion of backwash to reenter the bottle with each sip. Backwash contains germs and bacteria, consequently their optimal medium for breeding is water. To solve this REVEL created its 8oz CupCap®. Drinking from the CupCap provides better hygiene by greatly reducing the number of germs and bacteria transferred into the water remaining in the bottle.
Additionally, the CupCap instills safety and consumer confidence knowing that it not only shields the bottle’s opening, it allows the user to twist off the CupCap without touching near or around the bottle’s opening.
Issue
Bottled water is being shipped into the U.S. from overseas
Solution
This issue is alarming. A significant number of Americans are opting for bottled water imported from overseas, transported on cargo ships fueled by heavy fuel oil, which is even more harmful in terms of toxicity and carbon emissions compared to diesel. This poses the question, why look beyond our country for bottled water? Our countless focus groups provided the answer. The blunt reality is it all comes down to the consumer lacking knowledge of water and how its sourced. Once educated the majority commit to changing to a bottled sustainable artesian water sourced in the U.S. and we hope they opt for REVEL® Natural Artesian Water.
This change is brought about by being educated on the merits of artesian when compared to spring and processed waters. (This section will be brief to avoid being redundant as more detailed information is listed throughout the website.)
Artesian and spring water sources are the only two ‘natural’ water sources that do not require heavy mechanical or chemical filtration prior to bottling, unlike ‘processed’ tap/ municipally supplied water which requires it to be completely stripped via heavy mechanical and/ or chemical filtration. Due to this, processed waters require chemically structured man-made minerals to be blended into the water prior to bottling to make it safe for long-term consumption.(*1) Due to the heavy mechanical and/ or chemical filtration and the addition of ingredients these processed water are required to have a nutrition facts/ ingredient label which lists the method of filtering and the ingredients added. Artesian and spring water contains only the water from the source with nothing added thusly has no such labeling requirement. Since the majority of imported bottled water is artesian and spring, the scope of this article will be limited to those.
Artesian is far superior to spring due to spring water is merely underground and its quality is highly dependent on the soil conditions surrounding it. Logic dictates that good soil will generally yield good spring water and poor soil will yield poor spring water. It’s reasonable to conclude that America, like all overseas countries, have areas of good and bad soil with none being exceptionally better than another based on one country versus another.
In stark contrast to spring, an artesian aquifer by its definition is an underground body of water encapsulated by rock, granite, stone or clay. Customarily they are located thousands of feet below the earth’s surface. The water passing into the aquifer is filtered by the encapsulated rock and then protected from the outside environment. Soil conditions between the earth’s surface and the rock substrate have little effect on water quality.
As water travels through the earth, filtered by rock and protected by the very rock that filtered and encapsulates it, embarks the question: Are rock substrates located overseas superior to rock substrates in America? The answer is a resounding no.
The primary factors that influence the water quality of an artesian aquifer is the formation and makeup of rock substrate encapsulating it, including density, porosity, minerality, span of formation and its elevation. With 80% of Earth's surface formed by volcanoes, the quality of these sources is not determined by their geographical location by country but rather by their location and composition within the Earth.
Issue
Consuming water with altered pH or alkalinity
Solution
Firstly, let’s provide some background on how altered pH and altered alkalinity water came to be in America. In 2010, an international company ventured into the U.S. market, promoting its $4,000 countertop device through multi-level marketing (M.L.M.). This toaster sized device attached to your faucet and was plugged into a wall outlet. When in use it would apply an electrical charge to electrolyze the water. This chemical process often mistermed ionization but is actually a form of electrolysis as electrons are essentially stolen from the molecules to form ions. This process can artificially and temporarily inflate the pH and alkalinity of the water.
The company asserted that consuming their electrolyzed water offered numerous unproven and undocumented health benefits. Like typical M.L.M. companies, individuals selling this company's products are regarded as distributors and independent contractors. Consequently, the company is well insulated from legal action or responsibility for any false claims made by these independent contractors.
To this day false claims have been reported of the water helping on everything from weight loss to curing or preventing diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Polio and Cancer. During the outbreak of Covid-19 claims were made that consuming this water would prevent people from getting the virus which prompted the F.T.C. to serve the company to cease and desist claims that are not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.
With Americans buying into these false claims, bottled water companies saw this as an opportunity to capitalize on it although they had a hurdle they must first overcome. Bottling electrolyzed water and labeling it with a defined level of pH or alkalinity is not feasible as the water will promptly start to gradually return to its natural state. To overcome this, the majority of bottlers to this very day add chemically processed manmade alkalinizing agents such as sodium bicarbonate (commonly known as baking soda) or potassium bicarbonate (a low-sodium alternative to baking soda) directly into filtered tap/ municipally supplied water. They then market their product on the merits of its increased pH and/ or alkalinity.
If adding baking soda to water makes it “healthier” why haven’t the multibillion-dollar baking soda and antacid companies marketed their products for daily consumption? The answer is their products are labeled not to exceed the daily dosage and not to consume longer than 2 weeks. Furthermore, the FDA categorizes these products as category C which advises against their use by women who are pregnant, intending to become pregnant, or currently breastfeeding.(*2)(*3)
Long-term consumption of sodium bicarbonate can increase a person’s risk for potassium and chloride blood deficiency, worsening kidney disease, worsening heart failure, rise in sodium levels, muscle weakness, cramps and increased stomach acid production.(*4)(*5)(*6) The Canadian Society of Intestinal Research states that consumption of sodium bicarbonate should not exceed two weeks.(*7)
While pH and alkalinity are not interchangeable, the bottled water companies marketing their products want you to think they are. Most often their products are marketed on altered pH, so the ongoing emphasis will revolve around pH.
In our countless focus groups generally comprised of 12 attendees they were presented with 6 bottles of water all from different brands. Some waters were brands labeled 8.5pH, 9.5pH, 12.5pH and others were labeled electrolyte, spring and artesian. One of the questions we posed is, what do you believe is the healthiest water and why? Before providing the groups general consensus, ask yourself which one you would select?
It's relevant to point out that the bottle labeled 12.5pH was a fake brand, a generic bottled water with a professional looking label which we outsourced. What’s shocking is on average 58% of the attendees selected the bottle labeled 12.5pH. The most common answer to as to why they selected it is their belief that the higher the pH the greater the health benefits. Almost all communicated they gained this belief by seeing ads for pH water, celebrities endorsing water for its high pH and family, friends and colleagues communicating the same.
Upon learning that even ingesting a small amount of water with a 12.5pH would cause severe tissue damage, including esophageal ulceration consequently requiring urgent medical attention, they were astonished. Liquid with 12pH is considered hazardous and is more acidic than ammonia with an 11pH.
This begs the question; how did the majority of these bottled water companies settle on 9.5pH as being the magic number for improved health knowing that natural water sources commonly have an 8.5pH? Could it be because baking soda and antacids range between 9-10pH. Likely they refrained from utilizing 10pH as similar items include detergents, cleaning solutions, hand soap, milk of magnesia, etc.
Ground water from artesian aquifers and springs range between 6.5 - 8.5pH. Their pH and alkalinity are determined by their natural compounds and mineral content. To say the source of the 8.5pH is superior or healthier compared to the 6.5pH would be similar to judging a person’s intelligence based on their height.
The human body is self-regulating and extraordinary more complex than some give it credit for. The lungs, liver and kidneys control and maintain a normal and neutral pH of 7.35 - 7.45 in the blood regardless of the pH of the item consumed. If the body takes in extra acid or extra alkaline, it disposes of it through the urine.
Research shows there are possible health risks to long-term consumption of altered pH and/ or alkalinity water.(*8)(*9)(*10)(*11)(*12) Numerous health professionals caution that the documented health risks significantly outweigh any potential health benefits. It is important to mention that even the more reputable brands promoting modified pH and/or alkalinity water include disclaimers on their websites, stating their product is not meant for daily consumption but rather intended to be used as a supplement alongside natural, unaltered drinking water.
Countless clinical trials and scientific studies provide extensive support for the daily consumption of natural, unaltered drinking water, highlighting its indispensability not only for good health but for sustaining life itself.
Issue
Bottled water companies extracting water from our nations dwindling tap/ municipally supplied water
Solution
Tap/ municipally supplied water is sourced from rain and snow melt which is collected from above ground, not underground. It’s pulled from lakes, streams, rivers, aqueducts, reservoirs, etc. Consumers are often unaware that all bottled waters (excluding only artesian and spring) are sourced entirely from tap/ municipally supplied water. Artesian and spring sourced bottled water is obtained from underground sources, completely independent from tap/ municipally supplied water.
Unlike bottling artesian and spring sourced, bottling tap water requires processing it through heavy mechanical and/ or chemical filtration, commonly referred to as ‘processed’. This processing requires a distillation, deionization or the widely industry adopted reverse osmosis (R.O.) system which strips the water of the disinfectants and sanitization chemicals which were added by the water treatment facilities, consequently also stripping the water of its natural compounds and natural minerals.
These processed bottled water companies are bottling approximately 1 billion gallons per month diminishing our nations supply of tap water. Unbeknownst to the average consumer, the elite and most efficient industrial reverse osmosis systems typically achieve a recovery rate of only 75% to 80%, meaning for every 4 gallons of water which is processed for bottling, 1 gallon is discharged as waste. Again, this information pertains specifically to the most efficient system and does not encompass the mass-marketed cheaper and significantly less efficient systems. For the most efficient systems, for every 1 billion gallons of processed water bottled, on average 250 million gallons is discharged to the sewer. Annually, processed bottled water companies extract over 12 billion gallons from our tap water supply and waste 3 billion gallons. As processed bottled water sales increase, these numbers will increase in unison.
In contrast to processed waters, REVEL is a unique natural water sourced from an artesian aquifer where the water passing into the aquifer is filtered by its encapsulated rock and then protected from the outside environment. This underground source is completely independent of municipally supplied water, therefore has zero impact on it. Being a natural underground source its free from processing, eliminating the need for reverse osmosis or heavy mechanical and chemical filtration, allowing for its natural compounds and natural minerals to remain intact.
How to spot processed bottled water? Any bottled water with a nutrition facts/ ingredient label is processed. The ingredient label will specify the methods of heavy mechanical and/or chemical filtration used and disclose all man-made ingredients that have been added during the processing.
Natural waters (which include only artesian and spring) do not have nutrition facts/ ingredient label as they contain only natural water free from processing, with nothing added and nothing removed.