You may not have heard but there is an increasing difficulty locating pool chlorine due to a few factors.
On August 27, 2020 a huge fire broke out at the BioLab Chemicals plant in Westlake, Louisiana and took almost 3 days to extinguish. This plant produces around 70% of the chlorine used in the North American pool and spa market.
Combined with the increase in pools and hot tubs being built due to COVID-19 and people spending more time at home in their backyards in summer, it’s a double whammy for chlorine pool owners although not quite as much for salt water pool owners.
Some pool builders have reported pool installations doubling since early 2020 when COVID-19 began while prices for chlorine have increased up to 20% since the fire, so far. Chlorine requirements are going up and supply is very limited as a result.
Worse is that the plant won’t be fully operational again until early 2022 so chlorine shortages might last for some time.
A chlorine shortage is a problem even for salt water owners to be concerned with for a few reasons.
How salt water pools use chlorine
If you’re new to salt water pools, you should know that they do use chlorine. While salt chlorination systems produce their own chlorine during the pool season to keep the water sanitized and clean, salt water pools do require actual chemical chlorine from time to time.
Salt water pool owners typically need chemical chlorine at three times during the pool season:
Pool closing: When you close the pool in the fall for the winter season, it’s not uncommon to dump liquid chlorine into the water to keep chlorine levels high for a spell after the chlorinator is shut down. This helps to keep water sanitized and free of algae if temperatures go up a bit with some sunny days before the cold winter weather hits.
During the pool season: While your pool chlorinator should be capable of producing enough chlorine during the pool season, heavy pool usage, large rainstorms and very hot sunny weather either individually or collectively can really place stress on your pool’s ability to create enough chlorine.
A quick way to bump up chlorine levels is to dump chemical chlorine in – in liquid form, crystal shock powder or chlorine pucks that dissolve slowly in the side skimmer – are the most common ways.
You might also buy a small floating dispenser that is filled with chlorine and is then tossed into the pool to slowly release chlorine over time.
Pool opening: Over the winter, the chlorine level will drop to 0 so in order to quickly get chlorine into the water as you open your pool for the summer, you dump a large amount in depending on your water volume and pool status (i.e. is it already clear or is it green with algae?) before turning the chlorinator on.
Think of the story of the tortoise and the hare: A salt chlorinator is the tortoise, slowly creating chlorine at a consistent rate when it’s running. Chemical chlorine and shock products are the hare which acts much faster and quickly bumps up chlorine levels but isn’t as consistent.
So salt water pool owners are well-advised to keep some chemical chlorine product around just in case because you will need it at some point.
How to deal with a chlorine shortage
While salt water pool owners are somewhat protected certainly compared to people who have regular chlorinated pools, a salt water pool still requires chemical chlorine from time to time as mentioned above.
Here’s what a salt water pool owner can do to prepare for a chlorine shortage:
Buy enough pool salt for two seasons
With a chlorine shortage, expect that pool owners will start converting chlorine pools to salt water ones. This will increase the use of salt and there are already stories of pellet and pool salt shortages as people stock up. If you use water softener salt in your pool, remember you’re competing with people who have water softeners for the same supply, too.
While some people are hoarding salt to resell and profit from, you can simply buy enough to last you for this season and next which will ensure you can keep your pool running and can ride out any shortage in the meantime.
Remember: No salt means your salt chlorinator can’t produce chlorine.
Maintain your salt cell properly
The last thing you want to do is prematurely replace your salt cell due to lack of care because it costs money. And if your salt cell dies in the middle of the summer, you’ll need chemical chlorine to keep the pool clean while the new salt cell is being delivered if you can’t get one the same day.
Over time, your salt cell will develop a scale on the metal plates inside the unit and will need to be cleaned so maintain your salt in the recommended way possible.
If you have a reverse polarity feature built in your salt chlorinator system, it will automatically clean your salt cell. You should also inspect your salt cell during the pool season visually as it will ensure that it’s clean and thus running at peak performance.
If you have to manually clean your salt cell, ensure it’s done in a timely fashion and in the prescribed way which does typically involve chemical usage.
Buy some chemical chlorine to keep on hand
You will need chemical chlorine during the pool season at pool opening and closing and possibly during the pool season during heavy pool usage and very sunny weather. Thus it pays to have enough on hand that you need now and in the imminent future.
Of course chlorine is a chemical and that means storing it safely away from kids and in a dry cool place. Keep that in mind too.
What is the most cost effective and reasonable way to stock up on chlorine?
In order from most to least desirable, I’d say the following:
- Bucket of powdered chlorine: It will last the longest and can be mixed with warm water to form a slurry which can be poured into the water as needed. It’s usually the most cost effective option because the bigger the bucket, the less you typically spend per ounce/gram of product. It’s concentrated in this form, too.
- Bucket of liquid chlorine: Good for pool opening and closing times. It’ll run out quickly though as it’s not concentrated and just gets poured directly in the water.
- Chlorine pucks: These are good for in-season usage when the pool is already running and you need to quickly bump up chlorine levels due to heavy pool usage, sunny days, heavy rain or other reasons. Pucks are also good if your salt cell dies or you have other problems with the chlorinator to keep chlorine levels in line.
- Shock packets: They are the most expensive product since they are the smallest units and are concentrated chlorine. They are good for quickly bumping up chlorine levels but it comes at a cost and are really only good for shocking the pool, hence the product name.
Other options for dealing with a chlorine shortage
You may be unfamiliar with ozone pools or natural water pools but they exist too. You can build or convert pools over to these two styles but they are longer term and expensive options to consider.
In the short term, you might investigate the use of bromine too. While bromine is generally best for hot water pools such as hot tubs or for indoor pools that don’t get direct sun, it may be a temporary option to keep your pool clean while you ride out a local chlorine shortage.