Pool Chlorine Shortage, Heat Wave Hit Sacramento Area At The Same Time
ELK GROVE (CBS13) — On the brink of another heatwave, some pool-goers may have to put a halt on their plans.
A nationwide chlorine shortage is starting to trickle down to this area.
Jeff Mchenry runs Pool Butler in Elk Grove and, as the summer wears on, finding supplies to service his customers is getting harder and harder.
"Every week we're searching around all the local pool stores," he said.
A chlorine shortage has hit the Sacramento area as temps hit triple digits. It's forced one Woodland splash-pad to shut down temporarily until a donor stepped in.
"Everywhere in town seems to be out of liquid shipments. They aren't coming fast enough," said McHenry.
The shortage is being chalked up to a fire at the largest pool supply manufacturer of chlorine tabs.
Deon Nesson with All Clear Pool and Spa Supply says more commercial pools in the Sacramento area use chlorine tablets versus liquid chlorine. The tablets are cheaper but are now harder to come.
In some cases you can switch products, but not always.
"If they are set up for liquid and they can't get liquid, it's hard to set up overnight for tablets 'cause you're talking about a 100,000-gallon pool that has to have feeders in the system," Nesson said.
And keeping up with demand after more people put in pools during the pandemic is also an issue. One gallon of liquid chlorine equals one pound of tablets.
"You have to fill those trucks up, so one pound of liquid looks like this, and one pound of tablets is this big, so your logistics are really changing," Nesson said.
The increased demand means delays with liquid chlorine shipments.
"We just talk to the customers about what other products are available and try to get the shipments early," said McHenry. "There's not much you can do."
Pool industry experts say the shortage isn't expected to right itself anytime soon, leaving pool companies out in the cold during the hottest time of the year.