Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic there have been a series of shortages on certain items. First it was Clorox wipes and paper towels and then bicycles. Now, the latest hot commodity item is chlorine.“All of a sudden we started seeing it blow up this week,” said Katie Lenihan, business manager of Aquaknot Pools.They’ve had to implement purchasing limits because of some shoppers’ panic buying.“I mean, we’re seeing people buy four years’ worth, and you don’t need it,” Lenihan said.The spike in chlorine demand started during the early days of COVID-19, when many Americans bought pools to have a safe activity at home.In August, a bio-lab factory in Louisiana that makes pool products caught on fire during Hurricane Laura’s landfall.A Goldman Sachs report says some pool owners should prepare for a 58% price jump compared to last summer.Lenihan said they’ve only seen their prices go up 5 to 10%, and she’s confident they won’t run out of the supply.“This is definitely the biggest jump we’ve had, and you’re going to see it, and you’re going to see people trying to take advantage,” she said.Even if the national shortage on chlorine worsens, Lenihan said there are so many options for pool owners, such as liquid chlorine or pool shock.Her advice for worried customers is don’t panic and don’t go on a hoarding spree, because that could cause prices to rise even more.“A lot of times we’d recommend people, you know, get the big bucket, get like the 18 or the 25-pound bucket because that gets you through the year. But don’t get five of them, you know, let the next person get their chlorine too so we can all have a great summer,” Lenihan said. Lenihan said she thinks one reason Massachusetts hasn’t seen such dramatic price increases is because pool owners need to only purchase chlorine for three to four months compared to other parts of the country where pools stay open year round.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic there have been a series of shortages on certain items. First it was Clorox wipes and paper towels and then bicycles. Now, the latest hot commodity item is chlorine.
“All of a sudden we started seeing it blow up this week,” said Katie Lenihan, business manager of Aquaknot Pools.
They’ve had to implement purchasing limits because of some shoppers’ panic buying.
“I mean, we’re seeing people buy four years’ worth, and you don’t need it,” Lenihan said.
The spike in chlorine demand started during the early days of COVID-19, when many Americans bought pools to have a safe activity at home.
In August, a bio-lab factory in Louisiana that makes pool products caught on fire during Hurricane Laura’s landfall.
A Goldman Sachs report says some pool owners should prepare for a 58% price jump compared to last summer.
Lenihan said they’ve only seen their prices go up 5 to 10%, and she’s confident they won’t run out of the supply.
“This is definitely the biggest jump we’ve had, and you’re going to see it, and you’re going to see people trying to take advantage,” she said.
Even if the national shortage on chlorine worsens, Lenihan said there are so many options for pool owners, such as liquid chlorine or pool shock.
Her advice for worried customers is don’t panic and don’t go on a hoarding spree, because that could cause prices to rise even more.
“A lot of times we’d recommend people, you know, get the big bucket, get like the 18 or the 25-pound bucket because that gets you through the year. But don’t get five of them, you know, let the next person get their chlorine too so we can all have a great summer,” Lenihan said.
Lenihan said she thinks one reason Massachusetts hasn’t seen such dramatic price increases is because pool owners need to only purchase chlorine for three to four months compared to other parts of the country where pools stay open year round.