As the steady drumbeat of drought news has echoed across the state of California and the nation, pool industry professionals, from manufacturers to builders to retailers, have held their breath waiting for the potential impact on new pool permits — the headwaters of new business in the aquatics industry.
So far, reports from builders in the field and industry statistics have been better than some expected. According to the Utah-based industry tracking firm Construction Monitor, Californians are on pace to surpass last year in pool building.
In 2014, homeowners built or rebuilt more than 11,000 swimming pools, and this year, the state is on course to build more than 13,000.
This widely reported statistic has been used by some media outlets as evidence that pool buyers are heedless of the imperatives of water conservation, but it may be seen as a token that the pool industry's efforts to inform the public on the real effect of pool ownership on water usage spearheaded by John Norwood and the CPSA is getting through.
The media debate whether covered pools can save water over landscaping is ongoing, but the more articles that discuss the issue in an evenhanded way, examining both sides of the argument, the more traction the industry's position seems to find.
As the summer continues, pool construction statistics will be closely watched to measure the impact the drought is having on the largest market in the aquatics industry, and one central to the identity of Californians.
