Gathering moss in the land of sky blue waters

A Minnesota vascular surgeon brings to the pool the natural ingredient that keeps his state's lakes clean.

By Katherine Vogt, AMNews staff. Aug. 28, 2006.

Making sidelines pay
Doctors who branched out beyond running their practice tell why they did it, how they did it, and what you should know before you do it. Contribute

Name: David R. Knighton, MD.

Specialty: Vascular surgery.

Location: St. Louis Park, Minn.

Business: Creative Water Solutions LLC. It develops a product using sphagnum moss to condition and purify water. Used in home spas to keep the water pure, stabilize its pH, absorb oils and prevent scum and foaming.

Annual revenue: About $50,000 in 2006, the first year of the product launch. Projected 2007 revenues of $300,000 to $350,000.

Why he started the business: Dr. Knighton started thinking about the potential properties of sphagnum moss after reading a magazine article about how it was used to treat wounds in World War I. For Dr. Knighton, who is also a cellular biologist, this was right up his alley. "It turns out that northern Minnesota is filled with sphagnum moss. So we got some and started working with it in my research company, and we found it has some very amazing antimicrobial activity that's natural," he said.