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. (handful of moss photo)

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.