Chlorine shortage clouds summer pool season

Long Island's pool season is opening with a belly flop instead of a swan dive as supply stores and consumers grapple with a nationwide shortage of chlorine tablets.

"It stinks for everybody," said Kevin Vevante, co-owner of Aquacade Swimming Pool Inc. in Hicksville. "We get people from all over. ... We're limiting sales to our service customers and small [8-pound] pails to people who come in the store."

In the past, customers might buy a 25-pound pail of chlorine tablets that would last the season, said Vevante, who sits on the board of directors of the Long Island Pool and Spa Association.

Chlorine is used to sanitize pools and protect swimmers from waterborne germs.

Pool supply companies said the tablet shortage — called the apoolcalypse by some — can be traced to two primary factors.

On the demand side, many Long Islanders anchored at home by the pandemic installed new backyard pools.

On the supply side, a fire that swept through the factory of a Louisiana manufacturer of pool treatments made chlorine tablets a scarce commodity.

"I'm calling all over the country," Vevante said of the search for chlorine supplies. "I tried California. Everybody's looking outside the country. We're looking to Canada."

Robert Lucia, owner of Suntek Pools & Spas in Farmingdale, said demand for pools on Long Island has climbed about 300% since the start of the pandemic.

"It's probably record-breaking," he said.

Suntek is limiting customers to one pail, ranging from 5 pounds to 40 pounds, of chlorine tablets, at prices from about $60 to $200, about twice the pre-shortage price range, Lucia said.

In past years, the annual cost of chlorine tablets for pool owners would have averaged $50 to $100, he said. That's compared with $150 to $250 these days.

"And that's if you can find it," Lucia said.

Chlorine tablets — which are in the shortest supply — are popular because they provide protection over the course of about a week.

Granular or liquid chlorine, meanwhile, has to be added to the pool daily or every other day.

The price increase for granular chlorine has been relatively moderate, up 15-20%, Lucia said, while liquid has climbed 5-10%.

"People are used to putting in sanitizer once a week instead of daily," Vevante said.

Some Long Islanders are turning to saltwater pools as an alternative to chlorine.

Those systems generate chlorine from salt. Saltwater systems cost roughly $2,000 to $3,000, but allow pool owners to buy inexpensive salt instead of chlorine.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.