Bernard P. Domogalla was born about 1894 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin, receiving a B.A. in 1922 and an M.S. in 1923. In 1925 he completed a Ph.D. in bacteriology and chemistry. While working on his doctorate, Domogalla began to work as the Madison city biochemist, in which capacity he responded to complaints of Lake Monona's stench and weeds by applying copper sulphate with a spray applicator of his own design.
In 1945 Domogalla left the City Board of Health and established his own company, Applied Biochemists, Inc., of Butler, Wisconsin, which specialized in treating private and public lakes for weeds and algae with applications of copper sulphate and sodium arsenite. In 1956, Domogalla received a patent for a new algaecide, Cutrine, which combined alkaline salts with copper sulphate to improve water clarity and reduce the number of free-floating toxic copper ions. Domogalla treated lakes throughout the United States (and in Colombia, South America) but the bulk of his work was centered in the Midwest. The newspaper clippings in the collection indicate that his efforts achieved a fair amount of success, although they were not without controversy.
On March 6, 1970, four years after his retirement, Domogalla died of a stroke.
