May 26, 2021 • 6 mins
A perfect storm of events in 2020 led to a chlorine shortage across America that has continued into 2021. Learn why in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/us-chlorine-shortage-news.htm
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey
brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. As the summer of was
coming to a close, a buzz was sounding among those
in the swimming pool industry. Chlorine was becoming scarce and
it wasn't going to get better anytime soon. Industry experts
(00:23):
knew what a chlorine shortage would mean. Pool owners would
be left scrambling for this pool sanitizer and spending much
more per bucket, possibly hoarding the tablets or looking for
alternatives to keep their pools clean and safe. But at
the time, the public remained largely unaware, more focused on
the global COVID nineteen pandemic and the heated presidential election.
(00:47):
A cooler weather was also coming, and pools across the
country were beginning to close. The fallout from the Great
chlorine Shortage of wouldn't be realized until the warmer weather
returned the following year. Fast forward to just as quickly
as spring flowers began to blossom and pools began to open,
(01:09):
so did word of the chlorine shortage, leaving pool owners
and a lerch for the article this episode is based on,
has to Fork spoke with Rudy Stankowitz, a pool water
chemistry expert and CEO of Aquatic Facility Training and Consultants.
He calls the circumstances leading up to the shortage a
perfect storm, and he sometimes calls it pool Mageddon. In
(01:32):
early when news first broke that the coronavirus had landed
on US soil, Americans scrambled to buy up hand sanitizers
to protect ourselves from the virus. Justice demand for the
products began to soar. The Food and Drug Administration or
f d A issued warnings to consumers that some hand
sanitizers contained methanol, a substance that can be toxic when
(01:55):
absorbed through the skin or ingested. Apprompted by the additional
strain on hand sanitizer products, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention or CDC issued recommendations on hand hygiene. In
cases where soap and water or alcohol based hand rubs
are not available, The CDC recommended some d i y
(02:15):
hand washing solutions that included chlorinated water made with chlorine powder.
Another strain on chlorine demand came from the boom in
residential pools, with amusement, park and event venue closures and
travel restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID. People were
stuck at home and forced to find their own forms
of entertainment. Some of the money people would have spent
(02:38):
on vacations got funneled into backyard swimming pools. Stankowitz said
of pools were a popular go to item to install,
and as a result, the industry grew fourteen percent last
year during the pandemic. So we have more water in
people's backyards than ever before, creating more and more demand.
(02:59):
But the big his hit came on August when Hurricane Laura,
of category four hurricane hit southwest Louisiana, triggering a fire
in bio Labs chlorine and disinfectant manufacturing plant. Bio Lab
is the largest chlorine producer in the United States, making
at least seventy of the chlorine tablets used by pool
(03:20):
owners in America. The chlorine plant, just west of Lake
Charles burned for more than fifty hours. The fire completely
shut down bio Labs production of chlorine tablets. In the
weeks and months that followed, warehouse supplies began to dwindle
and chlorine tablets became scarce. As a result, the price
of chlorine began to skyrocket. According to i h S
(03:43):
Market data cited by Goldman Sachs, chlorine prices are thirty
seven percent higher now than they were last spring. For reference,
a twenty five pound or eleven kilo bag of chlorine
tablets costs about a hundred and thirty five dollars today
compared to just eighty nine dollars in May of and
stank Witz doesn't expect the chlorine shortage to end this summer.
(04:07):
File apps production of chlorine tablets is not expected to
return to normal levels until April two. Meanwhile, demand for
chlorine is expected to increase as the number of residential
swimming pools continues to grow into According to Pool Corp,
a pool supply company, about a hundred and ten thousand
(04:27):
new pools are expected to be added in the US
this year, an increase of more than over twenties already
high numbers. What that means is pool owners can expect
to pay about fifty eight percent more for chlorine in June, July,
and auguste compared to last year, according to I h
S Market So up, are there any alternatives to chlorine tablets?
(04:52):
Chlorine is a necessary chemical to keep swimming pools safe
and clean. When added to swimming pool water, it forms
hypo chlorous acid, a mild disinfectant that prevents the growth
of algae. Chlorine kills bacteria like Salmonella and equal I
and can enactivate viruses that cause illnesses like diarrhea and
swimmer's ear. Even saltwater pools use special generators that turn
(05:16):
the salt you add to the water into chlorine to
keep the pool water safe. But what can pool owners
do if they can't get their hands on chlorine tablets first?
Other types of chlorine or colorine compounds in liquid or
powder forms can also be used. These should be more
readily available in stores as well. Stanko's explained that there
(05:38):
are also hacks that pool owners can use that enable
them to use less chlorine or use other products like bleach.
He wrote an entire book dedicated to the topic how
to Get rid of swimming pool algae. Doing your homework
before altering the chemicals in your pool is strongly recommended, though,
according to the CDC, pool chemical injuries send a up
(06:00):
four thousand five people to US emergency departments every year.
Today's episode is based on the article National Chlorine Shortage
could Spoil the US Summer on Houstuffworks dot Com, written
by Jennifer Walker. Journey Brainstuffers production of I Heart Radio
in partnership with houstuffworks dot Com and is produced by
(06:22):
Tyler Playing for four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit
the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite show.
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey
brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. As the summer of was
coming to a close, a buzz was sounding among those
in the swimming pool industry. Chlorine was becoming scarce and
it wasn't going to get better anytime soon. Industry experts
(00:23):
knew what a chlorine shortage would mean. Pool owners would
be left scrambling for this pool sanitizer and spending much
more per bucket, possibly hoarding the tablets or looking for
alternatives to keep their pools clean and safe. But at
the time, the public remained largely unaware, more focused on
the global COVID nineteen pandemic and the heated presidential election.
(00:47):
A cooler weather was also coming, and pools across the
country were beginning to close. The fallout from the Great
chlorine Shortage of wouldn't be realized until the warmer weather
returned the following year. Fast forward to just as quickly
as spring flowers began to blossom and pools began to open,
(01:09):
so did word of the chlorine shortage, leaving pool owners
and a lerch for the article this episode is based on,
has to Fork spoke with Rudy Stankowitz, a pool water
chemistry expert and CEO of Aquatic Facility Training and Consultants.
He calls the circumstances leading up to the shortage a
perfect storm, and he sometimes calls it pool Mageddon. In
(01:32):
early when news first broke that the coronavirus had landed
on US soil, Americans scrambled to buy up hand sanitizers
to protect ourselves from the virus. Justice demand for the
products began to soar. The Food and Drug Administration or
f d A issued warnings to consumers that some hand
sanitizers contained methanol, a substance that can be toxic when
(01:55):
absorbed through the skin or ingested. Apprompted by the additional
strain on hand sanitizer products, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention or CDC issued recommendations on hand hygiene. In
cases where soap and water or alcohol based hand rubs
are not available, The CDC recommended some d i y
(02:15):
hand washing solutions that included chlorinated water made with chlorine powder.
Another strain on chlorine demand came from the boom in
residential pools, with amusement, park and event venue closures and
travel restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID. People were
stuck at home and forced to find their own forms
of entertainment. Some of the money people would have spent
(02:38):
on vacations got funneled into backyard swimming pools. Stankowitz said
of pools were a popular go to item to install,
and as a result, the industry grew fourteen percent last
year during the pandemic. So we have more water in
people's backyards than ever before, creating more and more demand.
(02:59):
But the big his hit came on August when Hurricane Laura,
of category four hurricane hit southwest Louisiana, triggering a fire
in bio Labs chlorine and disinfectant manufacturing plant. Bio Lab
is the largest chlorine producer in the United States, making
at least seventy of the chlorine tablets used by pool
(03:20):
owners in America. The chlorine plant, just west of Lake
Charles burned for more than fifty hours. The fire completely
shut down bio Labs production of chlorine tablets. In the
weeks and months that followed, warehouse supplies began to dwindle
and chlorine tablets became scarce. As a result, the price
of chlorine began to skyrocket. According to i h S
(03:43):
Market data cited by Goldman Sachs, chlorine prices are thirty
seven percent higher now than they were last spring. For reference,
a twenty five pound or eleven kilo bag of chlorine
tablets costs about a hundred and thirty five dollars today
compared to just eighty nine dollars in May of and
stank Witz doesn't expect the chlorine shortage to end this summer.
(04:07):
File apps production of chlorine tablets is not expected to
return to normal levels until April two. Meanwhile, demand for
chlorine is expected to increase as the number of residential
swimming pools continues to grow into According to Pool Corp,
a pool supply company, about a hundred and ten thousand
(04:27):
new pools are expected to be added in the US
this year, an increase of more than over twenties already
high numbers. What that means is pool owners can expect
to pay about fifty eight percent more for chlorine in June, July,
and auguste compared to last year, according to I h
S Market So up, are there any alternatives to chlorine tablets?
(04:52):
Chlorine is a necessary chemical to keep swimming pools safe
and clean. When added to swimming pool water, it forms
hypo chlorous acid, a mild disinfectant that prevents the growth
of algae. Chlorine kills bacteria like Salmonella and equal I
and can enactivate viruses that cause illnesses like diarrhea and
swimmer's ear. Even saltwater pools use special generators that turn
(05:16):
the salt you add to the water into chlorine to
keep the pool water safe. But what can pool owners
do if they can't get their hands on chlorine tablets first?
Other types of chlorine or colorine compounds in liquid or
powder forms can also be used. These should be more
readily available in stores as well. Stanko's explained that there
(05:38):
are also hacks that pool owners can use that enable
them to use less chlorine or use other products like bleach.
He wrote an entire book dedicated to the topic how
to Get rid of swimming pool algae. Doing your homework
before altering the chemicals in your pool is strongly recommended, though,
according to the CDC, pool chemical injuries send a up
(06:00):
four thousand five people to US emergency departments every year.
Today's episode is based on the article National Chlorine Shortage
could Spoil the US Summer on Houstuffworks dot Com, written
by Jennifer Walker. Journey Brainstuffers production of I Heart Radio
in partnership with houstuffworks dot Com and is produced by
(06:22):
Tyler Playing for four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit
the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite show.
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