Critics are hammering President Donald Trump’s renovation of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall after algae quickly appeared following the refilling, despite the president declaring it’s now filled with “CLEAN, BEAUTIFUL WATER.”
Less than two weeks after the pool was refilled following Trump’s $14 million renovation, the algae blooms have forced the administration to employ several techniques to mitigate them.
These include using hip-waders to vacuum up the water and pouring gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the pool, according to a CNN report.
The Interior Department claims a “state-of-the-art” filtration system has been installed as part of the renovations and is working.
“Due to deploying the advanced nanobubbler technology, the algae is dead and being vacuumed up as we speak,” an Interior Department spokesperson told CNN. “The nanobubbler technology has successfully destroyed the algae bloom that has plagued every pool reopening.”
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
However, a worker at the National Mall who spoke to CNN said it would take “an entire lifetime” to clean the entire pool.
Before the renovations, Trump harshly disparaged the pool’s green water, calling it “disgusting” and “not representative of the country.”
This is not a problem specific to Trump, as previous administrations have attempted to address the algae issue with little success.
In 2012, algae quickly reappeared after a $34 million renovation done under the Obama administration.
Critics on social media have been torching the seemingly nonstop barrage of pictures of the pool’s water and the workers attempting to clean it up ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary celebration: