THE DALLES — The Northern Wasco County Aquatic Center in The Dalles will be closed until further notice pending a liquid chlorine delivery.
The Dalles is one of many cities in the Pacific Northwest to be affected by regional chlorine shortages. According to a post on the NWC Aquatic Center Facebook page, the liquid chlorine manufacturer they use experienced an explosion on June 1. According to a press release by Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation, this disruption in chlorine production has caused suppliers to ration their stock, which means canceling deliveries to services that are considered “non-essential,” such as swimming pools.
Currently, the pool in Hood River is still open. This is because they just received a delivery before being cut off at the same time as The Dalles, according to the Facebook post, meaning their holding tank is full, whereas the NWC Aquatic Center was expecting their delivery June 16. As such, their holding tank is empty. Additionally, the Hood River pool is smaller and uses less chlorine, according to the post.
The closure of the NWC Aquatic Center means that swimming lessons and meets are canceled until further notice. As dates of lessons arrive, the aquatic center will issue refunds, but is holding off in case supplies arrive before start dates.
The center has been able to schedule some deliveries from sources such as janitorial supply companies, according to the post. However, it will not be as much as they would usually get, so they plan to reserve opening for weekends and the hottest days of the summer.
According to the post, NWC Parks and Recreation has no estimate of when they will receive another full shipment of chlorine.
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