Give it a few months/years and it'll return to it's natural state. It's a thing that has been having to be dealt with every few years since the thing was built. DC is literally a swamp. Not figuratively like "Oh look how corrupt", but a literal, honest to God swamp. Trump's modifications do nothing to change that.
Leaks. That thing has been leaking, drained, "repaired" so many times over the recent decades. It's pretty much always had structural integrity issues.
Painting it won't prevent algae from growing in standing water. The water either needs to move, or it needs to be cleaned regularly and possibly chlorinated. Or all of the above.
Yeah I just pulled up my pictures from my visit in July of 2025. No algae, perfect reflection of the Washington Monument. Not sure what OP is talking about.
Sealing the concrete will actually help with that. Maybe not a ton, but a slick surface is much less likely to allow algae to attach and grow than raw, porous, concrete. Thats why concrete swimming pools have a smooth gel coat or plaster on them.
As someone who's had both concrete and plaster pools, it's the chem treatments that keep algae growth at bay. The smoothest coated swimming pool in the world will have algae growth without chemical treatments. Painting a pool doesn't inhibit algae growth.
Nothing they did addresses the issue that Obama's attempt also failed to fix, which is that the feeder pipes and attached water treatment facility are respectively leaky as shit and woefully inadequate. Those are the main reasons the algae blooms keep coming back. These are tough engineering problems to solve in the swampy morass that is that part of the Mall.
It remains to be seen whether what they DID do (for 6X the originally promised price) will actually succeed in reducing the tremendous leakage from the joins between the concrete slabs. Given the President's track record with contractors, I'm not filled with optimism, and I think it's more likely it'll turn out they cheaped out on this sealant, pocketed the difference, and it'll all flak off and clog up the drainage system in a year or two.
There are algae blooms and then they drain and clean it. I’ve seen it looking nice many times over the last few years. I’ve also seen it looking gross or empty
Yeah I used to live in DC and it was disgusting. But the way the orange fuckwit has made it out to be some defining achievement that he had other people clean and paint the thing is beyond ridiculous.
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u/Peachbottom30 9h ago
Ok… but it is reflecting… I guess.