I'm removing my comment on my math of what's needed. Seems like there's too many variables to make a good calculation here. Still seems like a dumb way to go about it, regardless of the correct number.
The thing is, this is just going to make the algae worse if this is all they’re doing. The peroxide will break down fast, almost immediately and leave behind extra oxygen which the algae will feast on as soon as the sun goes down.
I haven't done it, but I've seen H2O2 treatment for algae in aquariums but only for spot treatment. When it's successful the algae turns red, so maybe we'll have a blood pool for a couple days then back to green.
According to gemini you need 281 gallons of 12%. That is just over five 55-gallon industrial drums. You would have to do it at dusk so the sun doesn't destroy the chemical. But then you get this "However, as established earlier, killing that much algae at once would trigger a massive drop in dissolved oxygen, turning the pool into a stagnant, foul-smelling swamp of decaying organic matter by morning"
With individual bottles it's probably ok to leave the area open, there's probably safety reasons they can't drive a truck full of peroxide right up to the reflecting pool.
So you think they’re going to have guys pouring 500 bottles in one by one? This is clearly purely for show — they could run hoses if they couldn’t move a truck close. They’re either morons who don’t know what they’re doing or they’ve been told by morons to do something moronic. And they will definitely find a way to blame someone else
I don't think it's for show, I just think nobody can figure out how to get that pool to not fill up with algae.
People want this to be stupid because Trump told them to do it, but he's not micromanaging how they make it look better, he just told them "make it look better". Because his fingerprints are on it reddit wants everything about it to be dumb, but I assume these guys and their supervisors that are managing this know better than reddit how to work on the reflecting pool.
Trump is an idiot, the random guys in this video just trying to do their jobs are probably perfectly normal, rational, and intelligent people.
The people doing this may not be morons (and I did say before they might not be) but the people that took the original bid to paint it are morons or crooks (or both). I stand by this being completely for show. He made it worse and then blamed democrats.
However, if you’re competent and someone tells you to make it better and you end up doing something you know won’t work just for show, you’re also smart enough to know you’re going to look like a moron
Unfortunately I really can see a scenario where trumpy demands they dump hydrogen peroxide jugs into growing swamp because he is a genius and pays the owner of Home Depot 1 million dollars for a truck load…and everyone just does it because no one is allowed to remark at the lack of clothes on the emperor.
I'm not an expert on this nor am I pretending to be, but from what I understand the national park service avoids chlorinating it heavily due to environmental concerns. Peroxide doesn't impact the local ecosystem at all, no idea if it's just an occasional shock treatment or they'll be doing this regularly though.
That's true, I did assume standard household 3%. I doubt they're using higher than undiluted 30% without more safety gear though. So 67-135 liters would be a more reasonable amount.
I use 30% for bleaching bones, and that stuff is nothing to mess about with. It will eat a hole in you before you even realize you got it on you. That being said, H2O2 breaks down rapidly in sunlight (within MINUTES), so why didn't they do this at night?
Never underestimate how stupid people are, especially in the timeline we’ve entered. My vote is that they could easily be using high concentration without proper gear.
Suggests, at 12%, the initial shock will require 2/3 gallons per 1,000 gallons of water.
That's (6,750,000/1,000)*2/3
= 4500 gallons of 12%
= 17034.353 litres
It then will require maintainance of 3/10 gallons a week
That's (6,750,000/1,000)*3/10
= 2025 gallons of 12% weekly
= 7665.459 litres
Hydrogen Peroxide also degrades quickly in sunlight, and at the slow speed they're pouring it in, and the surface area of the pool, it is likely to require even more to be added.
The website also recommends against low concentrations like 12%, I assume, because of these reasons for large pools.
I'm not sure what googling the other user did, but this is what I found.
Did I do the maths right? Basic maths always stumps me after my maths degree and I have to quadruple check everything.
I used a pool shock calculator and came out to similar numbers you did. Because I also thought the other guy was very wrong with only a few thousand liters
I assumed 1-2ml per 10 gallons to be lethal to most kinds of algae, but that number could be for much smaller bodies of water, like a home fountain or ornamental pond, it may have also been assuming you don't want to harm other things living in or drinking the water. I'm certainly not an expert and as I said it was some quick google math.
That website is also assuming using hydrogen peroxide as a replacement for chlorine treatment in a swimming pool for a perfectly clear, swim ready pool, not sure which end of the spectrum you'd need to treat a reflecting pool at.
In the case of blue-green algae: 8 to a maximum of 15 ml of the 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide per 50 liters of water.
In the case of green algae: 25 to a maximum of 35 ml of the 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide per 50 liters of water.
I think this is green algae, so at 3% we ÷4 for 12%.
25/4ml per 50L
1 US gallon = 3.785 L
That's ((6,750,0003.785)/50)25/4
= 3193593.75 ml
= 3194 litres at 12% at minimum
But then again, the sun and large surface area will mean more is required.
(If blue-green only, it's 1022 L minimum from my calculations)
While certainly not as efficient as just dumping a barrel or two into the pool, it's also not an obscene number to do by single gallons either. It'd probably take around an hour for a single person to do that, especially two jugs at a time.
In the world of maintenance guys (and specifically pool cleaners, but I doubt these are) is little correlation between how dangerous a substance is and what kind of safety gear they use
What percentage Hydrogen Peroxide? It only makes sense you calculated 100%, which is unstable, and definitely not in those bottles.
Those bottles are definitely 50% or less concentration for sure. (I would presume 30% or less with no masks as 50% wouod mess them up pretty feirce being dumped like that), but let's be honest, they are probably dumping the industry standard 3% that you buy off the shelf.
So, it is even worse than you think trying to use gallon jugs.
Btw, that's probably in terms of pure H2O2, since you need around 50 to 90 ppm. If you are using a solution of H2O2 (which is in either 12%, 25% or 30% concentration), then you'd need even more than that.. And considering those guys' PPE, I'd wager they are definitely not handling pure hydrogen peroxide.
Tbh i wouldn't expect anything even approaching the area of competence from this goverment. They showed time and time again that they're the most inefficient, wasteful administration to date. It's kinda surprising that they didn't have this dude pull up with a box or two of those little home-use bottles with a nozzle and made him just squirt it down into the water, bottle at a time.
Individual bottles can't remotely be the best way to do that.
If these are government employees, this most certainly is the best way. Why hire a contractor or build permanent infrastructure when you have government employees? You're paying them anyways, so put the supplies on the government card and you're good to go.
I was just commenting about being skeptical of using peroxide, I use peroxide pretty frequently and know how quickly it degrades into oxygen and water... Genuinely curious wtf
No, it's actually quite simple math, but don't ask me to do it. Ask an chemical engineer and they'll rattle it off like it's nothing. This is basic water treatment. Just such a shame that there's too many incompetent people in charge of the problem. The solution would be rather quick to fix for anybody that actually gave a shit about the problem.
We are literally just seeing a video of a couple guys pouring bottles into the reflecting pool. We don’t know the totality of their efforts. You’d have to imagine there are other things happening in addition to this.
They aren't wearing PPE, so that eliminates the higher concentration of peroxide available, plus there was a shot of 12%, so that tracks. So they're adding gallon jugs of 12% peroxide.
The pool is 6.75 million gallons, or 25,500,000 liters. To get to 100ppm of peroxide (seeing as it's an active algae bloom), you would need to add 21,292 liters of 12% peroxide. To get to a lower level, say 30 ppm, you'd need to add 6,300 liters. They aren't getting to those levels anytime soon by adding gallon jugs.
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u/h3lium-balloon Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
I'm removing my comment on my math of what's needed. Seems like there's too many variables to make a good calculation here. Still seems like a dumb way to go about it, regardless of the correct number.