It may be a good idea to purchase chlorine sooner rather than later.

Updated: Read Our Blog on Price Increases and Chlorine Alternatives

In late August 2020 Hurricane Laura made landfall and swept across the southern part of Louisiana. Slamming into the Lake Charles and Westlake area, it caused damage that contributed to a fire at KIK Custom Product’s Biolab plant that lasted 3 days. Biolab is the parent company of BioGuard pool chemicals.

The facility involved manufactures BioGuard products and can produce 115 million pounds per year of trichloroisocyanuric acid and disodium isocyanurate. “Trichlor” for short is a white powder with a heavy “chlorine” smell. Often coming in either tablet or granular form, it’s used to kill bacteria and control algae growth in swimming pools and hot tubs.

Due to storm damage, an area of the facility was breached and water was able to enter what is normally an enclosed space. That water is believed to have initiated a chemical reaction producing both chlorine gas and heat, which may have led to the fire. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board along with KIK and BioLab are still investigating the cause, the extent of the damage, and the amount of product lost. It is known that about 835 tons of pool disinfecting products was present at the plant when the incident happened. The full investigation is expected to last several months. The plant, which sits on 15 acres within a larger industrial complex had been shut down and was completely evacuated prior to the storm hitting. No injuries or illnesses were reported and all employees and people on the ground were confirmed safe.

So where does this leave the pool industry and the availability of trichlor for the rest of 2020 and the upcoming 2021 pool season? It is yet to be determined just how much the incident will affect both pricing and supply of the market overall, but purchasing chlorine tablets this year may not be a bad thing.

Update:

Read Our Additional Blog on Chlorine Alternatives and Additional Information on the Shortage

Read Our Blog on Chlorine Alternatives for the 2021 Pool Season

These pool chemicals are dry and can be stored without too much trouble so purchasing at current prices could be advantageous in anticipation of a price increase and chemical shortage for 2021.