Moss? How Did This Get Started?

Welcome to the first of hopefully many conversations about all things water.  I am Dr. David Knighton one of the founders and President of Creative Water Solutions LLC.  Along with Vance Fiegel (my business and research partner for 25 years) we started Creative Water Solutions to bring the miracle of Sphagnum moss to the world.

How did this all get started?  That’s a question I get asked daily when people realize that my background is in Vascular Surgery, Cellular Biology and Wound Healing.  The answer is a fascinating story of serendipity.  I was returning from a trip to Germany.  Somewhere over Nova Scotia I ran out of reading material and paper work.  I got bored and asked the flight attendant for anything to read.  She brought back Atlantic Monthly, People Magazine and Golf Digest.  I golf poorly but enjoy the process and the outdoors.  I usually don’t read People Magazine unless I’m waiting in a doctor’s office so I chose Atlantic Monthly.

Moss for Treating Wounds

In that issue there was a single page article about the use of Sphagnum moss in WWI to treat battle wounds.  The Germans and the English found that if they packed their soldiers wounds in a special species of Sphagnum Moss that they survived in higher numbers than if they packed the wounds in cotton.  The author postulated that the effect was due to the amazing absorbency of the moss.  Being an expert in wound healing, a trauma surgeon, and knowledgeable about wounds and infection, I postulated that this moss must have an effect on bacterial growth.

When I got back home, Vance and I got the articles about this from the archives of the library and corroborated the story in the magazine.  In fact, we found out that Northern Minnesota had large bogs filled with the kind of moss used in WWI.  Vance drove to Northern Minnesota and with the help of two peat experts from the NRRI (Natural Resources Research Institute, http://www.nrri.umn.edu/default/) in Duluth, he brought back some moss to test.

Preventing Growth of Bacteria, Algae, Fungus and Mold

We found that this moss would not let bacteria, algae, fungus or mold grow in its presence.  It did not kill the microorganisms – it prevented their growth.  When they were re-fed with media that did not contain the moss they took off and grew without difficulty.  Initially, we were interested in using moss in wounds.  At that time I had a swim spa in my home.  My kids and I loved the small pool in the basement.  My wife hated it.  It smelled, was “dirty” and irritated her skin when and if she consented to swim with us.

Saving Our Spa

I have a degree in chemistry from college and with all my chemical education I was totally unable to control the water chemistry.  I either had too much chlorine or too little.  The pH was too high or too low.  The water never stayed clear.  Periodically, black, white, and orange slimy strings grew in the water.  I learned from others that everyone had this problem and it came with having a pool or spa.

One day, after we discussed (argued) about draining the spa and filling it in with concrete, I remembered our canoeing experiences in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness in Northern Minnesota.  I remembered the clear water that I could drink from the middle of the lakes and made the connection that maybe that crystal clean water was due to the huge area of bogs that condition the water of those lakes.  I decided to get some moss from the lab and see if it would work its magic in my swim spa.  I bought a paint strainer bag from Home Depot, filled it with the moss plants that had been sterilized, and threw it in the pool.  Within one week the water was improved and by two weeks it didn’t smell and was crystal clear.  As a result Creative Water Solutions was formed.

It’s taken nine years of research and study to bring the miracle of this long forgotten plant to commercialization.

In future blogs, we’ll talk about all things moss and water.  We’ll talk about the numerous applications for the moss in different water applications.  I’ll keep you up to date on the latest scientific discoveries being made on water treatment and moss.  You’ll hear about the people on our team and what they do.  I’ll attempt to answer your questions and promise to tell you when we don’t know the answer.

I am looking forward to this dialog and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Tags: moss, pools, spas, Water chemistry

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 7:52 pm and is filed under Water chemistry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.