Do you know how Creative Water Solutions got started? The story may be familiar to some but there also may be some interesting new information for you to share with your clients.
It all started on an airplane. Or rather, a magazine article read on an airplane by Dr. David Knighton, Co-founder of Creative Water Solutions. David was reading an article in Atlantic Monthly about Sphagnum moss being used to treat soldiers’ wounds in WWI. It specifically stated that the soldier’s wounds that were being treated with Sphagnum moss were healing much faster. Given his profession as a doctor, he theorized that there must be antimicrobial properties to the moss.
In 1999, David and his business partner and co-founder of CWS, Vance Fiegel (who holds degrees in cellular biology and microbiology), became fully enveloped in researching the possibility that Sphagnum moss could be antimicrobial. Soon enough Vance was off to test the various species of Sphagnum moss.
Coincidently, Dr. Knighton was having major issues with his personal hot tub at the time of reading the article. He just couldn’t get the water clear and it was stinking up his house!
Leaving out all of the minute details (which are pretty funny if you have a chance to get the full story from David yourself), what was discovered was the ability to treat hot tub water with a specific species of Sphagnum moss.
After approximately 5 years of laboratory testing, product testing, and patent applications Creative Water Solutions sold its first product of SpaNaturally® in 2004 (later the trade name is changed to SpaMoss®). SpaNaturally® was designed to treat backyard spas and to this day is the most well-known of our product line.
Now that we were residential spa experts, it was time to move to larger bodies of water. The residential pool! Going back to our research and development roots, CWS creates a system that uses a separate contact chamber to place the PoolNaturally® (later changed to PoolMoss®) moss. In 2008 we sold our first PoolNaturally® product.
Fast forward to 2009 and Creative Water Solutions introduces PoolMoss® Pro and SpaMoss® Pro to the commercial pool and spa industry. We hit the streets locally and dove right in! Many of our clients that started using our commercial products in 2009 are still very happy customers to this day!
Knowing the capabilities of Sphagnum moss, we weren’t going to stop with pools and spas. In 2010 we started test sites all around Minnesota to see how moss would affect industrial water systems. Our first official sale of our industrial product ProMoss® was December 2013. Industrial water treatment has been the fastest growing product line for Creative Water Solutions to date.
We have only scratched the surface of our potential. Where there is water, there we will be. It may take years of R&D, but with grit and determination, we will make it happen!