The Reflecting Pool saga | About That

The reflecting pool in D .C.has gone from gray to American flag blue to Shrek green all in a matter of weeks.It's algae.And now the paint's peeling.It's actually starting to appeal.

It's coming up.Now, all of this was fairly predictable because upkeep of the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial, this 2000 ft long beast of a monument on the National Mall, it has plagued basically every president for nearly a century.Trump is just the latest.

It's embarrassing.It was so horrible.I never saw anything like it.It was filthy dirty.

Every expert will tell you the pool was practically designed to grow algae because a reflecting pool is only reflective if it's still, right?You can't churn and recirculate and clean the water as vigorously as you would like.So you've got this relatively still water that's also warm because it's shallow and in full sun.If you were trying to biofarm algae, this would be the way to go.Just a perfect facility for growing algae.And it's not just algae.

The pool was built on marshlands and basically started sinking the day it was finished.So just imagine if the structure is constantly shifting unevenly depending on the ground, cracks are going to form, pipes are going to break.The former director of the National Park Service said a full rehabilitation of the pool would cost more than $100 million.So when President Trump set his sights on the reflecting pool as part of his efforts to beautify the Capitol ahead of America 250 celebrations, he started with a $15 million dollar reno.In six weeks, the pool was drained, the cracks filled, sprayed with a new waterproof sealant, repainted and refilled.And for a while, it looked pretty good.

I'm impressed, to be honest.

I think it looks beautiful.It looks very dark.It doesn't look like a pool.blue.But sure enough, when the summer weather rolled around, the algae started to regrow, and the pool went from patriotic blue to swamp green.Workers rushed in, sweeping and vacuuming up the algae.

A new ozone nanobubbling system is supposed to destroy algae on a microscopic level, and gallons of hydrogen peroxide were poured into the pool.But then passersby started to notice the lining of the pool starting to lift, paint peeling and chipping off the bottom, possibly from the hydrogen peroxide, possibly from sabotage.

They cut it.They cut it very violently.But somebody said they might have put fertilizer.They did something to create the algae.

Trump is now saying that the pool will likely have to be drained again to carry out more repairs.But time is ticking to the 4th of July.And by then, It's anyone's guess how blue the water will look.