The newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool seems unable to escape an old scourge: algae blooming in the shallow water.
Thin layers of algae floated on the World War II Memorial side of the pool Friday morning, even after workers were seen cleaning out algae from the bottom of the pool Wednesday.
The reflecting pool construction project started in April and work was completed last week as part of President Donald Trump’s sprawling plan to spruce up the capital ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary. The president has characterized the century-old pool as “filthy” and “dirty,” claiming that the pool would look “far more beautiful, more beautiful than it did in 1922” upon renovation.
An Interior Department spokesperson said that the current algae is “residual” from supply lines that sat dormant for eight weeks during construction. The residue is part of the normal startup process, the spokesperson said.
As part of the project, NPS also invested in a new nanobubbler filtration system, while a dedicated crew will also maintain the grounds from wildlife.
Online federal contracting records show that $1.7 million was awarded to Green Water Solutions for the ozone nanobubbling system, while $14.2 million was awarded to Atlantic Industrial Coatings to line the pool in the color “American Flag Blue.” The renovations ended up costing far more than the original pricetag of around $1.5 million that Trump quoted when he announced the reflecting pool work.
“President Donald J. Trump is an expert builder who has fixed the reflecting pool for good unlike the failed and extremely costly attempt by Obama and Biden,” the Interior Department spokesperson said.
The pool was last renovated in 2012, when an ozone water filtration system was installed for the first time as part of President Barack Obama’s two-year, $34 million restoration project.
Ozone works by neutralizing nutrients required by algae to grow. Two months following the 2012 renovation, NPS officials decided to drain the pool again and double its ozone level to eradicate the large clumps of algae forming in the pool.
Green Water Solutions declined to comment for this story.
Eddie Wood, owner of Atlantic Industrial Coatings, said that his company did a great job on lining the pool this spring.
“It turned out perfectly,” he said.
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