Summary
Widespread pollution of the world’s waterways exists. Most prior efforts at pollution control have been directed at defining the biochemical and biological abnormalities caused by the pollutants and devising means to specifically reverse the adverse effects. Ecosystems are far more complicated than explainable by present-day science and interventions are typically only marginally effective and often have unanticipated adverse consequences. Nature can undergo self-corrective adjustments within its various ecosystems to maintain their intended functions. The term Nature’s allostasis has been introduced to describe such adaptations. It is an energy and time-dependent process that may well parallel evolution in being initially regulated by microbial life forms and proceeding in a stepwise manner into beneficial and synergistic microinvertebrate, macroinvertebrate, and vertebrate life forms. The extent of disorder within an ecosystem, for example, due to excessive amounts of toxic chemicals or the over-proliferation of pathogenic microbes, may exceed Nature’s capacity for allostasis. At these so-called tipping points, then can be further deterioration of the functionality of the ecosystem. It is proposed that Nature uses a natural force termed KELEA, an acronym for Kinetic Energy Limiting Electrostatic Attraction. Means are available to increase the KELEA levels of water. In doing so, it is possible to bring a disordered ecosystem back into the range of correctable allostasis. This has been shown in treated areas of Spirit Lake, Iowa, and other US locations using pellets obtained from volcanic rocks. The volcanic material is pulverized, heated to partial melting temperatures, and slowly cooled before pelleting. A commercial product is referred to as Kiko technology. Relatively few pellets are used in conjunction with biochar and nutrients to increase the KELEA levels in water. A series of questions are provided to advance the scientific understanding of KELEA and Nature’s allostasis. Answering these questions should not await the use of Kiko and possibly related technologies to improve the world’s waterways.
Acknowledgment. Mr. James Osugi Chairman of Kiko Technology Limited, registered in Hong Kong SAR, provided the Kiko pellets and directions for their use. Mr. Steve Gruhn is an executive in the corporation that provided the 42-biochar. He lives near Spirit Lake and personally applied pellets and biochar to the first selected site. Mr. Dave Sybesma of D&K Investments treated five other sloughs of Spirit Lake. He has also supplied the mineral water solution. Research on KELEA is supported by MI Hope Inc., a non-profit public charity. One of the missions of MI Hope Inc. is to help in the compiling and reporting of data relating to clinical, agricultural, and industrial applications of KELEA. Additional nformation on KELEA is available online and in the cited references.