Workers dumped containers of 12% hydrogen peroxide into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Tuesday, trying to push back an algae bloom that had turned the water a sickly shade of green. By later Tuesday, aerial photos showed the bloom starting to break apart along the sides of the pool, even as clumps remained in the center.
The treatment mattered because the pool was visible, historic and once again sliding into the same problem that has followed it for years. Katie Martin said Monday that the Trump administration was using nanobubbler technology and that it had successfully destroyed the algae bloom that has plagued every pool reopening since 1922, but the latest cleanup showed how quickly the water could turn again.
The Department of the Interior said the hydrogen peroxide was a milder treatment than chlorine and is used in spas and specialty pools, including natural swimming pools. It also said the treatment would have no adverse effect on wildlife that use the Reflecting Pool. That mattered because the pool had already been through repeated cleanup cycles and still ended up green again, raising the question of whether this fix would last any longer than the last ones.
The department had previously blamed the resurgent algae on residual algae from supply lines that bring water to the pool from the Tidal Basin. Public records show the government had spent about $14.2 million on the renovations, well above Trump’s initial estimate of about $1.5 million, after Trump announced the project in April and said he intended to make the basin American Flag Blue. Obama spent about $34 million on renovations to the pool in 2012, underscoring how expensive the landmark has become to keep from slipping back into the same pattern.
For now, the peroxide appears to be working at the edges, but the center still holds the bloom. The real test is not whether the water turns less green for a day; it is whether the Reflecting Pool can stay that way without another round of chemicals, equipment and cleanup.
