Inventors Tap into Moss to Keep Pool Water Clean
On March 3, the U.S. Patent Office issued a patent for "Devices for Water Treatment" to inventors David Knighton, M.D., and Vance Fiegel, co-founders of Creative Water Solutions LLC (CWS), a Minnesota-based company.
CWS has harnessed moss to condition water in pools, hot tubs, spas, and other water environments with the first breakthrough "green" products in the pool and spa industry, PoolNaturally and SpaNaturally.
Both products reduce the amount of chemicals needed in pools and spas -- and their maintenance time -- by half or more, according to regular use by industry veterans and homeowners.
Both Knighton and Fiegel have recently published their insights into the use of sphagnum moss to inhibit microorganism growth in water in Water Conditioning and Purification International.
"This species of moss has been keeping northern Minnesota lakes and other waterbodies around the world clear and clean for eons," notes Knighton, an expert in wound healing and founder of three successful companies with his business partner, Fiegel, a microbiologist. "Our water treatment patent documents the moss' natural ability to condition water and inhibit the growth of microorganisms and other waterborne agents. Pool and spa owners have unsuccessfully struggled forever to balance pH and perform other basic maintenance tasks in a battle in which they have futilely thrown chemicals at chemicals. That era is over -- if they employ this natural solution."
"We know from our studies of biofilm -- the core issue in pool and spa water quality -- and the ongoing research at Montana State University's Center for Biofilm Engineering, that the conventional use of chlorine, bromine, plus other toxic chemicals does little to stabilize water quality and water clarity. But the moss has these capabilities, with none of the irritating side effects we've all experienced in pools and spas like burning eyes, dry skin and hair, and sanitizer odors, or the chemical damage to pool and spa hardware," Fiegel explains.