Private Shrink Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Someone suggested to me Spa Magic. I currently use BaquaSpa and am fairly happy with it. The Spa Magic of course sounds as if it's a miracle...put some in once every three months and your water will be happy. Natural enzymes. Too good to be true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Someone suggested to me Spa Magic. I currently use BaquaSpa and am fairly happy with it. The Spa Magic of course sounds as if it's a miracle...put some in once every three months and your water will be happy. Natural enzymes. Too good to be true? Nowhere on their website do they say that it is EPA approved as a sanitizer. Also, in small print they say it is compatible with chlorine and bromine. There are several enzyme products on the market (I like NaturalChemsitry's Spa Perfect myself) but this is the only one that I have seen that implies that it will sanitize the water. All the others that I have ever seen still say that they are NOT sanitizers and need to be used with an EPA approved sanitizer in the water. Enzymes will help break down organics and help reduce sanitizer demand but they will not kill water borne pathogens quickly (or at all!) , which is the purpose of a residual sanitizer in your water. Their website does make it sound like a miracle. Here is a quote from their website in the hints and tips section (Boldface by me): " At times you may experience an organic smell. This simply means Spa Magic has found contaminants and is working harder. This smell may suggest your filter requires more frequent cleaning. Check your pH, make sure it is between 8.0 and 8.4. Check the underside of your cover and clean if necessary. If the odor persists add two cups of chlorine bleach. If the odor gets stronger or persists for a long period of time add 1 to 2 quarts of bleach to really shock it good. Be patient. Spa Magic just need some time to do its job. Cloudy water may be caused by heavy usage, lotions, oils, deodorants, sun screen, other products used on the skin, or soap residues in bathing suits or your hair. To clear up cloudy water 4 to 6 ounces of water clarifier or two cups of bleach can be used to speed up recovery time. Be patient, the water will clear up and does not have to be drained, Spa Magic just needs some time to do its job. The Penetrating Spa Cleanser does not always remove all the contaminants in your system also there is always a little water left in the plumbing and pump. You may get a reaction, causing cloudy or green tinted water. Just add two cups of bleach and your water will clear up." It seems that they admit that the spa might get cloudy or smell or turn green (algae). These are all indications of an unsantized spa. They recommend adding bleach to fight this. Bleach is sodium hypochorite which is the same as pool store liquid chlorine except about half the strength. Two cups of bleach in a 400 gal spa will raise the free chlorine levels to almost 20 ppm! One quart will raise it to about 37.5 ppm and two quarts to about 75 ppm! This is way beyond shock level. It it more like nuking the spa! This much chlorine will certainly clear green, cloudy, or smelly water whether you have spa magic in it or not. So much for their claim of a chemical free spa! Seems they are admitting that chlorine is needed with their product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamk Posted October 26, 2006 Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 Nowhere on their website do they say that it is EPA approved as a sanitizer. Also, in small print they say it is compatible with chlorine and bromine. There are several enzyme products on the market (I like NaturalChemsitry's Spa Perfect myself) but this is the only one that I have seen that implies that it will sanitize the water. All the others that I have ever seen still say that they are NOT sanitizers and need to be used with an EPA approved sanitizer in the water. Enzymes will help break down organics and help reduce sanitizer demand but they will not kill water borne pathogens quickly (or at all!) , which is the purpose of a residual sanitizer in your water. Their website does make it sound like a miracle. Here is a quote from their website in the hints and tips section (Boldface by me): " At times you may experience an organic smell. This simply means Spa Magic has found contaminants and is working harder. This smell may suggest your filter requires more frequent cleaning. Check your pH, make sure it is between 8.0 and 8.4. Check the underside of your cover and clean if necessary. If the odor persists add two cups of chlorine bleach. If the odor gets stronger or persists for a long period of time add 1 to 2 quarts of bleach to really shock it good. Be patient. Spa Magic just need some time to do its job. Cloudy water may be caused by heavy usage, lotions, oils, deodorants, sun screen, other products used on the skin, or soap residues in bathing suits or your hair. To clear up cloudy water 4 to 6 ounces of water clarifier or two cups of bleach can be used to speed up recovery time. Be patient, the water will clear up and does not have to be drained, Spa Magic just needs some time to do its job. The Penetrating Spa Cleanser does not always remove all the contaminants in your system also there is always a little water left in the plumbing and pump. You may get a reaction, causing cloudy or green tinted water. Just add two cups of bleach and your water will clear up." It seems that they admit that the spa might get cloudy or smell or turn green (algae). These are all indications of an unsantized spa. They recommend adding bleach to fight this. Bleach is sodium hypochorite which is the same as pool store liquid chlorine except about half the strength. Two cups of bleach in a 400 gal spa will raise the free chlorine levels to almost 20 ppm! One quart will raise it to about 37.5 ppm and two quarts to about 75 ppm! This is way beyond shock level. It it more like nuking the spa! This much chlorine will certainly clear green, cloudy, or smelly water whether you have spa magic in it or not. So much for their claim of a chemical free spa! Seems they are admitting that chlorine is needed with their product. I am using spa magic in my hot tub and I can tell you that Spa Magic does remove bacteria from the water. I work for a wastewater treatment plant and we are required to remove pathogens from the effluent before releasing it to the river. We us a fecal coliform test to monitor the cleansing process. I took a sample from my hot tub and tested it using the same process. The results showed no fecal coliforms. I then took a effluent sample and ran the same fecal coliform test with and without treating it with Spa Magic. The effluent without Spa Magic showed 60 colonies of fecal coliform per 100 ml of effluent. The Spa Magic treated effluent at 60 degrees showed only 15 colonies - a 75% reduction. I reperformed the Spa Magic treated effluent test with the sample heated to onver 90 degrees and found no fecal coloform colonies. Email me or visit my website for more detail. I am not a certified lab, but these were personal observations of the product in a test we that we perform weekly at out treatment plant. Spa Magic has not been approved by the EPA at this point, and therefore cannot use the language "kills bacteria" or claim to be a sanitizer until field studies are completed and approved by the EPA. Spa Magic is compatable with chlorine and bromine, so that if you need additional sanitizing you can use it. Let be real, if you use your spa a lot and/ or people are getting in dirty, then the Spa Magic may get over loaded and a shock treatment may clear it up quicker. My wife, son and I use our spa abou 3 to 4 days a week and have not used anything other than Spa Magic and some water clarifier to keep our spa clean. The bottom line for me is that I am not sitting in chlorine, nor breathing it and I don't have to test the water for minimun levels of chlorine or shock it after each use. I just look at the water and can see it it needs help. It is an alternative to chemicals, or at least it will minimize your exposure to the the chemicals, and the chlorine industry does like that. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted October 27, 2006 Report Share Posted October 27, 2006 any product that recommends raising your free chlorine level to between 20 to 75 ppm when the water becomes cloudy, smelly, or develops algae is certainly NOT any kind of santizer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Hamm Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 My wife wanted to try spa magic in our new tub (we had another one in our old house) so i gave in. We have been running it for about two weeks now, and am actually suprised that it seems to work. I think the water smells a wee bit..but maybe it just smells different then i am used to. She (and the rest of the people who have been in) think its fine. We use the spa every day, several times a day usually. 4 kids (3, 3, 8, and 11) so, lots of chances to get the water..umm..dirty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 My wife wanted to try spa magic in our new tub (we had another one in our old house) so i gave in. We have been running it for about two weeks now, and am actually suprised that it seems to work. I think the water smells a wee bit..but maybe it just smells different then i am used to. She (and the rest of the people who have been in) think its fine. We use the spa every day, several times a day usually. 4 kids (3, 3, 8, and 11) so, lots of chances to get the water..umm..dirty. Just be aware that water that looks clean and clear can have harmful pathogens growing in it well before it starts to get cloudy and smell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Hamm Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 What would these pathogens do to us? What should i look out for?? ------------------------- On another note, we went away for the weekend to a hotel. Most of my family got a rash from the tub. Wife and two kids anyway. Think the chlorine was really high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 What would these pathogens do to us? What should i look out for?? ------------------------- On another note, we went away for the weekend to a hotel. Most of my family got a rash from the tub. Wife and two kids anyway. Think the chlorine was really high. You just learned what can happen from pathogens in the water. What you got sounds like hot tub folliculitis from pseudomonas. It is one of the most commen things you can catch in a hot tub. If you smelled a strong chlorine smell in the hotel hot tub (you said you thought the chlorine was too high so I am assuming you could smell a chlorine odor....that would be chloramines) then the tub was NOT properly sanitzed and needed MORE chorine to break down the chloramines. This is what we call 'shocking' and it is why we do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Hamm Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 Ok...so...if i am happy with the smell (or lack there off), and no one is getting any rashes/itchy stuff...i should be ok? THe PH level seems fine so far, maybe a little high, alk and calcium are all fine. Of course, the bromine test does not change color at all. (Am using test strips). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 Ok...so...if i am happy with the smell (or lack there off), and no one is getting any rashes/itchy stuff...i should be ok? THe PH level seems fine so far, maybe a little high, alk and calcium are all fine. Of course, the bromine test does not change color at all. (Am using test strips). if your bromine test is not changing color then it is safe to assume that their is probably NO residual sanitzer in your water! IMHO, that will provide a breeding ground for water borne nasties. There are only 3 EPA approved sanitizers for hot tubs--chorine, bromine, and biguaide (SoftSoak, BaquaSpa, Revacil, etc.). It's your tub so you can do what you want but personally, I would not soak in it if there was no sanitizer in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Hamm Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 So..if its does not sanitize..i should be seeing soemthing..dirty water..or foul smell..or something right? Or, could be water still be really bad but not have any of those symptoms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 So..if its does not sanitize..i should be seeing soemthing..dirty water..or foul smell..or something right? Or, could be water still be really bad but not have any of those symptoms? Like I said before, clear water does not always mean safe water. by the time the water is foul smelling and cloudy it will be REAL microbe soup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makailey1 Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 Ive been using Spa Magic now four six months, and my familly just loves it. No more real dry skin from chemicals. I love the minimal up keep too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.