Chlorine Shortage 2021
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Is there a shortage of pool chlorine in 2021? If you are a swimming pool owner you probably have seen recent news reports about the looming shortage of chlorine heading into the 2021 pool season but you might be hearing mixed reviews depending on your sources. Some distributors of swimming pool equipment have gone so far as to begin a social media campaign explaining how there is definitely not a shortage of chlorine, but this follows just days after news sources like Newsweek reported that there is a shortage of chlorine. So what the heck is going on here? Is there actually a shortage of chlorine or not?
First it is important to understand that there is a shortage of trichlor chlorine, which is commonly what chlorine pucks (or chlorine tabs) are made from. A fire at a major trichlor manufacturing facility in 2020 is partly to blame for the origins of this problem. The rest you can blame on Covid-19 and the result of reduced global manufacturing. So as of May 2021 there is a shortage of trichlor, not chlorine, and this is an important distinction. Some people within the pool industry think that the trichlor shortage will simply mean that you need to explore other forms of chlorine treatment such as liquid chlorine or granular products, while others feel that the increased demand of pool owners normally using trichlor pucks searching for other solutions will cause the chlorine shortage to spread to other forms of chlorine. One thing is for certain and that is trichlor tabs are used by millions of pool owners, and if every one of these pools needs a different chlorine solution then this will certainly strain supply lines for other kinds of chlorine.
Global resin shortage - A global resin shortage is also contributing to the potential for a shortfall of chlorine products for the 2021 swimming season. In another "perfect storm" situation, literally, the February winter storms that blasted the Houston Texas area took down the petrochemical suppliers that produce over 80% of the polyethylene and polypropylene manufactured in the USA. This put the domestic plastic production manufacturers back on their heels already, and then another fire, this time at the Pemex Cangrejera petrochemical plant in Mexico dealt the coup de grâce. The lack of raw materials for resins is now severely limiting production of plastic goods and containers and this is something that is going to greatly impact the pool and spa industry. The production that is happening is doing so with substantially increased costs for resin supplies and the effects of this will be felt in retail pricing of pretty much any goods you can think to name. Plastics are so deeply ingrained into our product lines that a shortage will affect everything from chemicals to construction supplies to food.
Global shipping container shortage - BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! Seriously? Yes, seriously. There is a global shortage of shipping containers which is a unique situation that global logistics has not had to deal with previously. Just in 2021 alone the costs associated with a single shipping container rose from around $1500 to anywhere from $6000 to $9000 per container. But the real problem is not even the cost increase it is the fact that you simply can not secure them for shipping. Normally containers ship full everywhere they go. A container that carries shoes to America from Asia might end up being sent back with second hand clothing or even defunct commercial electronics for recycling and smelting where environmental limitations are not as strict. The point is that shipping containers are normally full in both directions but since the cost of getting containers is so great money can be made sending empty containers to areas desperate for the ability to ship their goods out, like manufacturing districts in China. So while some manufacturers are stuck sitting on piles of stock they can not move, there are shipping containers slowly floating across the oceans with nothing in them at all.
Is there actually a chlorine shortage? Yes, there is a shortage of trichlor chlorine. There is also a shortage of plastic resins for other products to be manufactured, as well as a shortage of shipping containers to disperse products to major cities for distribution. In addition to this the swimming pool industry saw explosive growth throughout the 2020 season due to extreme travel restrictions that saw record numbers of people stuck at home with a swimming pool being the best option for outdoor recreation. So pools are being built, renovated and repaired in record numbers for the second year in a row, manufacturing globally is still experiencing problems related to Covid shut downs, and multiple individual problems in manufacturing are converging together to create a perfect storm of supply issues. So why are manufacturers and distributors advertising that there are no shortages happening? Probably to stop people from buying out and hoarding pool stock like toilet paper.
When major pool distributors announce via social media that there is no chlorine shortage, implying the shortage is only with trichlor chlorine, they are in fact shooting their number one customers in the foot - pool workers. The hard, cold reality is that chlorine is harder to come by this year than last, and this is evidenced obviously by the fact that prices for chlorine have sharply increased over last year...if you can still find any in your area. So when a pool company (rightfully) informs a pool owner that there is an increase in costs for chlorine due to a shortage, and then distributors and manufacturers within the industry start to advertise there is no shortage, this puts pool professionals in a very tough spot. Prices HAVE gone up, and chlorine IS hard to find in some places and very likely this problem is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. If pool companies did not increase prices they would lose money on every chlorine puck they sell right now, but you can see how a pool owner would be getting mixed messages and feel like they are being ripped off. If you are a pool pro making less on your chlorine sales than normal, and working way harder to find sanitizer for your clients, only to get accused of price gouging by your client and have your supplier hang you out to dry...well it is easy to see how this leaves a bad taste in the mouth of a pool industry worker just trying to keep their clients swimming this year.
Hoarding chlorine - If you hoard chlorine with the hopes of cashing in for a few extra dollars this summer when people are really desperate then you are part of the problem. People can get sick and even die from swimming in improperly sanitized swimming pools. To quote the unmistakable bass vocalist and voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft, "your soul is an appauling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable...mangled up in tangled up knots."
What can you do as a pool owner to help get you through the 2021 swimming pool season? First of all you need to understand that there are different types of chlorine but once you add them to the water they are all the same sanitizer. If you normally use chlorine pucks but this year you need to use liquid chlorine or granular chlorine this might actually be a good thing for you. Many pool owners will discover this year that chlorine pucks are not a great choice for most pools to begin with due to the addition of CYA to each puck. This means every chlorine tab with CYA you add to the pool you increase the CYA level of the water. Once you get above the 30 to 50 ppm range then the CYA starts to impede the function of your chlorine and the only way to lower CYA reliably is with partial drain and refill with fresh water. If you live in an area with water restrictions or filling your pool with water is expensive, then you should never have been using stabilized chlorine products in the first place.
9 tips to help get through the trichlor shortage:
1) You can NOT mix different kinds of chlorine together. This is extremely dangerous. If you have a chlorine feeder that usually uses pucks you can not simply start adding a different kind of chlorine. This could result in a chemical explosion. Do not even share mixing containers or scoops between different chlorine types and always ensure you keep your buckets of chlorine dry and away from direct sunlight.
2) If you have a pool that normally uses trichlor chlorine pucks you can safely add liquid chlorine to this pool, or granular chlorine, or any other form of chlorine as long as you do not mix or add one type of chlorine to another. But you can shock a pool with liquid chlorine, and the next day add granular chlorine and this is not a problem for the pool and both will serve to increase the chlorine level in your water.
3) Shower directly before swimming and limit dogs in your pool to drastically reduce the amount of chlorine that your pool consumes in a year. Bathing suits do not need to be washed often either. By reducing on make up, soaps, oils, conditioners, sunscreen and other impurities that get introduced to your pool you will dramatically reduce your chlorine demand.
4) Scoop, brush and vacuum your pool regularly and increase the amount of filtration your water gets. Every last iota of debris that you remove from your pool manually or via mechanical filtration will reduce on the amount of chlorine that your pool uses.
5) Increase total alkalinity towards the higher end of the ideal range to help limit the movement of pH upwards. Chlorine is more effective at lower pH range than higher pH range.
6) Use borates to further lock in total alkalinity and pH values and to further decrease the amount of chlorine that your pool consumes.
7) Use a solar blanket every night on the pool to drastically lower evaporation which has the effect of drastically increasing your chemical efficiency in the water.
8) Use non-chlorine shock regularly to help limit the formation of combined chlorine (chloramines) or potentially add UV, AOP or ozone to your pool system to help limit combined chlorine values. When your combined chlorine approaches 1.0 ppm this indicates it is time to breakpoint chlorinate the water, which is a 10x increase of the combined chlorine level for 12 hours. If chlorine is in short supply then it would be beneficial to prevent combined chlorine levels from rising with peripheral systems or chemical treatment.
9) Use phosphate remover to keep your phoshate levels under 500 parts per billion and this will reduce the amount of chlorine you use to combat algae growth in your pool daily.
More than ever this will be a year where under informed pool owners will be punished for their mistakes with water chemistry. This is where a consult with a local swimming pool industry professional can genuinely help you to come up with a plan for success for your pool this year. It is going to be a tough road to navigate for many people and it will serve you well to brush up on your pool chemistry as well as prepare for the potential for delays or backorder issues with equipment and consumable supplies. If you are on the fence about doing some repairs or renovations this year to your pool I have been advising people to put off renovations that can be safely put off. The supply of skilled labor, equipment and supplies is making costs increase weekly right now and you can be certain that you are paying top dollar for anything you want done this year. It might be worth waiting until next year when hopefully supplies are back in stock.
Current shortage as reported by clients or colleagues of Swimming Pool Steve so far in 2021:
- Rigid PVC pipe
- Flexible PVC pipe
- Jandy diverter valves
- Ball valves
- Pool heaters
- Pool filters
- Pool pumps
- Above ground vinyl liners
- Readymix concrete
- Steel kits / custom steel for vinyl pools
- Liquid chlorine
- Chlorine pucks / chlorine tabs
- Skimmers
- Main drains
These are all items which people have reported difficulty in finding locally. Not all areas report the same problems, and in fact that is part of the problem in that someone might say online in social medial that their local supplier has lots of chlorine...but where are they located? This is a supply problem that is not rolling out equally and once all of the pools in the northern areas are opened, which is happening over the next month, the true nature of the shortages should be more evident. In any case it is pretty clear that it is not just another "business as usual" type year for the swimming pool industry. It is going to be a challenging year and hopefully one where pool owners, pool workers and pool equipment manufacturers and suppliers can all get on the same page to mutual benefit.
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Swimming Pool Steve is an award winning, second generation swimming pool and spa specialist from Ontario Canada. With over 10,000,000 views on the Swimming Pool Steve YouTube Channel, winner of the 2018 Pool & Spa Industry Leadership award and author of hundreds of pool and spa articles both online and in print Steve is committed to helping pool and spa owners as well as pool and spa industry workers learn more about the technical side of building, renovating, repairing and maintaining all types of swimming pools and spas. Follow Swimming Pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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