Trump’s ‘American flag blue’ reflecting pool turns green after $14M glow-up | US | News
Workers remove algae and debris from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool (Image: Getty)
Green algae has reclaimed the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, just days after the landmark reopened following a multimillion-dollar renovation.
US President Donald Trump spent $14 million to cover the concrete floor in “American flag blue”, but the pool turned a murky green, necessitating a monumental clean-up.
The National Park Service initially stated that the return of green-looking water was due to dormant algae that sat in the pipes for weeks and returned as the pool was refilled.
“This is part of the normal startup process,” a spokesperson for the agency told CNN.
“We remove the algae, and the nanobubbles will maintain the pool and keep it algae-free.”
Despite cleanup efforts, the algae appeared to remain intact throughout the weekend.
Workers clean the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool (Image: Getty)
A spokesperson for the Interior Department told The Post that the moss from previous administrations was killed by technology implemented by the Trump administration and has now been removed.
“Compared to previous administrations, the National Park Service is actually maintaining the beautifully completed Reflecting Pool,” the spokesperson said.
“Nanobubbler technology has successfully destroyed the algal bloom that has plagued every pool reopened since 1922, most famously the reopening of the Obama pool, which caused large clumps of algae to take over the surface of the pool.
“Now due to the application of advanced nanobubble technology, the algae is dead and is being swept away as we speak. We thank President Trump for fully repairing the Reflecting Pool.”
The Trump administration spent another $1.7 million on an improved ozone nanobubble filter system that aims to disperse tiny oxygen bubbles to reduce the nutrient supply of algae.
The 6.7 million-gallon pool, originally built in the early 1920s, has faced a recurring algae problem.
The Obama administration spent $34 million to repair the Reflecting Pool’s pipes and filtration system to circulate water in the Tidal Basin. The purpose of this renovation was to solve the persistent algae and leak problem, but both problems have returned.
Algae and debris in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool (Image: Getty)
Trump has frequently commented on the “disgusting,” “filthy” and “dirty” conditions of the pool under his predecessors’ management.
He previously said his planned beautification project would cost only $1.5 million to $2 million. He also said he rejected a $300 million maintenance offer to replace the pool’s bottom with stone.
Instead, Trump chose to reseal the gaps and add an “American flag” blue overlay on the bottom.
The goal of the project was to stop leaking in the pool, which experts said was caused by gaps between expansion joints and the piping system.
Before Trump’s latest renovations, the Reflecting Pool was leaking about 16 million gallons of water each year, according to the Interior Department.
Some have argued that leaky pipes, which help expel four million gallons of water roughly every three days, are to blame for the algae in addition to the leaks, as it weakens the filtration system.
The Trump administration plans to repair these pipes in the fall, according to the Interior Department.
