CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — As summer approaches, the swimming pool industry is facing a potential chlorine shortage, causing higher prices and homeowners to look for alternatives.
Being stuck at home during coronavirus lockdowns created home improvement project opportunities for homeowners, many that opted to build a pool. The increase in demand and a large fire at a chlorine tablet production facility in Lousiana last year contributed to the scarcity and caused prices to surge, according to Pool Magazine.
“It’s insane right now,” Austin Price, a technician with Professional Pools and Care in Hazel Green, Alabama told NewsNation affiliate WHNT. “We’re trying to do the best that we can. We want you to understand that with our distributors and things like that, they are back-ordered. And mandatory shutdowns of the plants.”
“We are absolutely slammed,” Justin Forrester, a designer and consultant with Las Vegas Pools & Spas, told NewsNation affiliate KLAS.
Forrester said due to the combined factors of supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic and increased demand for swimming pools the cost of chlorine has surged. “The price has gone up from maybe $90 for a bucket of tabs to $120, $130,” he said.
Alternatives to chlorine pools include saltwater pools and systems using ultra-violet, bromine and mineral combinations according to SupplyWorld.Com. Contractors and suppliers like Las Vegas Pools & Spas said more clients have sought chlorine replacements due to the shortage.
NewsNation affiliates WHNT and KLAS contributed to this story.