Algae Returns to Reflecting Pool After $15.9 Million Overhaul and New Filtration System
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 12
Algae Returns to Reflecting Pool After $15.9 Million Overhaul and New Filtration System
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 12
Summary
$15.9 million in recent upgrades failed to keep algae from resurfacing in the reflecting pool, despite a new nanobubbler filtration system and fresh lining work.
The Interior Department said the growth is residual algae from supply lines left dormant for eight weeks during construction and described it as part of a normal startup process.
$1.7 million went to Green Water Solutions for the ozone nanobubbling system, while $14.2 million went to Atlantic Industrial Coatings to line the pool in “American Flag Blue” — far above Trump’s roughly $1.5 million estimate.
The setback echoes the pool’s 2012 restoration, when a $34 million Obama-era project added ozone filtration but still required draining the pool again two months later to double ozone levels.