Swimming pool owners facing chlorine shortages and higher prices this summer
Supply chain issues are causing shortages of some pool chemicals, including liquid chorine, which many people rely on to kill germs, bacteria and to keep water sparkling clean.
“It's no different then when you go to a grocery store and there is no cereal on the shelves, now they are telling us there is no chlorine," Walter Ptasznyk, who was buying chlorine to get his pool ready for a weekend pool party, told CTV News Toronto.
A transport truck carrying a tanker of liquid chlorine was delivered to an International Pool & Spa location in Oshawa, Ont. just in time as the location’s main storage tank was almost empty.
“Normally, this tank filled three times a week and it can hold 10,000 litres of chlorine. Now we are only allowed 8,000 litres per week,” Darryl Hudgins, with International Pool & Spa, said.
The store said it is only allowing each customer to have 10 litres of chlorine per visit to make sure there is enough to go around for other pool owners.
Factory shutdowns and an increase in demand have made liquid chlorine harder to come by, which has also led to major price increases.
“Our costs doubled three weeks ago, but we only increased our prices marginally because we still need to make sure our customers are happy,” Hudgins said. “In the past few days, the prices we are charged doubled again.”
Due to supply chain issues, inflation, and increased demand, many pool products have increased 30 to 50 per cent in price in the past two years.
There was also a major fire at a U.S. chemical plant in Louisiana in 2020, which also caused product scarcity.
“Transporting the product has tripled over the past year, you have a tight supply, and you put in all together and you have much higher pricing," Harry Martyniuk, with Pioneer Family Pools, said.
Pool stores say chlorine pucks or granular chlorine are still available and many pool owners also use salt water systems, but liquid chlorine will be more scare this summer and expensive.
"It's like anything," Ptasznyk said. "If you need it you are going to have to pay for it.”
It's not clear if the supply chain issues involving liquid chlorine will persist throughout the summer months, but if you use it, you may want to stock up on it when you can.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.