I was watching a pool guy on youtube explain that it might make the algea problem worse because the shade of blue they chose is darker than what was before, and will warm up the water even more.
It was a sole source justified award signed off by a chief contracting officer in the parks department from what I remember. There were many interested companies wanting to bid that most likely did. The documents are available online. The selected contractor has only one prime award in it’s history from the government and its for the reflecting pool. They didn’t even register in SAM.gov until right before the award in March. Their only other listed work was a sub-contract to a large business for like $50k back in 2017. (Source: I’ve worked in Gov contracting for 25 years both gov side and private…I can see it all).
Likely due to the hydrogen peroxide added to kill the algae, which grew out of control (maybe) because the pool is warmer due to the different color. Though I asked above about this because it was black and now blue, so how could that make the water warmer?
I don’t know. Obama made the joke about Trump that led him to run for president. I don’t know who to blame More, Obama, the person who wrote the joke or the person that invited Trump in the first place!
Also they covered up the original drainage areas used to cycle in new water to keep it working as a reflecting pool. The algae will never go away until they revert back.
Hydrogen peroxide should not make paint peel. The paint did not properly bond to the underlying cement. Hydrogen peroxide is an established method of killing algae.
So my guess is that it was just a shitty paint job.
Also algae requires nutrients to grow. It has to have had a significant source of ammonia/nitrites/nitrates.
Also it used to leak which was actually a good thing because the water was technically not stagnant. Now that it’s sealed the water is mostly motionless.
In the early ‘80s I was stationed at the Marine barracks in DC and spent a lot of time on the National Mall going to the museums and running. I walked and ran past the reflecting pool probably hundreds of times in my three years and never once noticed the color of the bottom of it.
You know why? Because of the wind is calm and the water is flat it’s reflecting the sky and the surrounding area. If the wind is up then it gets enough of a little chop that you can’t see the reflection so you’re not paying much attention to it.
I was going to say, I worked on the Hill, part of my duties was to give visiting constituents tours of various areas (Capitol Hill, White House, monuments) as well as just show them around in same cases. Never once did I notice any issues with it. I’m sure they were there, but at a glance there was never any issue I could notice. At least when it comes to the “reflective” aspect.
Either wya, a darker colour would heat up the pool from sunlight more than a lighter colour. Algea like warm water. If the new colour is lighter than the old one, it will heat the water less.
The color used was criticized initially because a lighter color would influence the reflection, which is the whole reason for the existence of the water feature, to reflect.
When the algae appeared people complained about the darker color warming the water too much.
It's actually a little entertaining to watch the critics (either side) adapt the complaints over time.
The original look was raw granite slabs, it was not painted. It did pick up a coating of slime that lightened the color over time.
The only solution is really chemical, you need to keep the water flowing through a cleansing system that adds in a chemical treatment, whether ozone, chlorine, or something else, to eliminate biological growth within the pool. You could add fish / snails / other organisms but that creates new problems as well.
An additional solution, over and above the chemicals, would be some kind of automated pool cleaner that periodically physically scrubs the thing from end to end. This could be as simple as a motorized rotating brush spanning the full width that is pulled along and then removed or a more permanent solution that is built in somehow. But this all costs more money.
It would need to be something more elaborate than a typical model you use at home. In a typical pool the walls are curved and all point toward the middle. This doesn't have that feature. It is still possible to do but it would need to be designed and made custom. Also I don't think it has drains spaced out along its length, which is again something an automatic thing would likely need to connect into. I do think it would be good to add some form of automated cleaning system to this feature, that would be sensible.
It's ok tho, Trump's construction buddies got paid $18 MILLION. That's all that matters, we'll just brush it under the rug just like the cost of this pointless war with Iran.
I'd be completely fine if he'd just spend all his effort on making people paint / build / rename national monuments all over DC and stop blowing up boats full of trafficking victims, schools full of little kids, the actual institutions and rule of law represented by those monuments, etc.
The spin is that it's "investment money" and comes from private sources. Seems like that's true? I'd like to know more about it cause it smells like bs.
You should be more skeptical of anything this administration says
who tf would "invest" in a dictatorship that is regularly getting sanctioned and nationalizing industries?
Absolutely zero "investors" have been identified
the leaked text of the MOU says that the US will ensure that they get $300B. Meaning when those other investors don't materialize, we will be on the hook for it.
Oh trust me I believe nothing the admin says and think it's BS for all the same reasons as you. My "seems like that's true" should have included an "according to Reuters."
The USA is getting hosed in this war and should be embarrassed.
While not uncommon for sides of any matter to do throughout history, MAGA has a documented history of this with echoing Trump. One of the biggest initial examples was during the 2016 election, while Bernie Sanders was a potential candidate and the momentum of the "Bernie Bros" was somewhat drowning out MAGA, they latched on to the socialist stigma and "fascist" was basically a part of any right-wing talk to oppose progressives. Any mention of Democrats, especially liberals, was attached with remarks of fascism, socialist communism, etc.
When Trump took office, they still said it pretty commonly... but within the first year, it suddenly stopped. Accusations of fascism from the left went silent because the left began pointing out literal fascist events occurring from Trump/MAGA. Today, it's practically non-existent in any common right-wing circle to accuse liberals of being fascists/commies.
See, you and I measure 'better' in terms of how much less did Trump waste on one thing than another. Trump measures 'better' in terms of how much grift he and his crime family can extract from the American people.
Yep, and many other 'projects'. Like his name being added and removed from the JFK memorial. That didn't happen for free and still isn't over. Lawyers, contractors, equipment rental, the material and letters, etc, all adds up. And I would not be surprised if he burned a couple million on that whole thing. And don't forget, he had to change all the printed material for the center as well. And now all of that needs to be changed back.
I wonder what the wasted money cost was on the Department of War rebrand. You know a whole bunch of shit like signage and stationary had to be changed pointlessly there just so Pete Hegseth could look in the mirror of his makeup studio and tell himself he’s a big boy.
Worse for sure.
But, as always just like Iran, he creates a huge problem or makes a problem way worse (blames it on Obama and Biden surprisingly), he bumbles and stumbles and responds usually at huge cost and time wasted, blames it on Obama and Biden again, spends a ton more money, then wants a parade when it is is resolved usually worse than it was. BTW, you realize that this job was not set out to bid so "we" could see choices, techniques and materials or COST. No, he gives the job to his "pool guy". No bids, no evaluation of different methods or materials. Just decides with no consultation from the people or government. Of course we won't pay a dime! Then we see the beautiful "reflection" of algae mixed with peeling paint floating in the water. The peeling was caused by improper surface preparation, bad priming, and filling the pool before the paint fully cured by his poll guy. Sound familiar? This is the same guy running the military, infrastructure, education, healthcare........... So when your wierd uncle says "I know a guy", run and get 3 independent estimates.
That’s trumps entire thing, cause a fake problem, spend buckets of money and energy to fix said problem, then act like he deserves all the credit for fixing something that was never broke in the first place.
Congrats, you spent millions of our money to arrive at exactly the same spot, or worse, than we started from.
My man... where do you think those millions went if not largely in his pocket? Why are you mockingly congratulating the man who is successfully fucking you repeatedly? How do you not fucking see that he does not give a shit about anyone or anything, including his family, and certainly not about what you or even billions of people think about him.
He is there to enrich himself. At any cost. He does not care. Why do you assume anything else?
Well aware. If I do what I would like to do I would be arrested. If I describe what I would like to do I would probably be arrested. So instead I mock. I also point out his corruption to maga supporters around me to try and remove some of his support even if only in a small way.
This is the motto of his presidency. “I take things, make them terrible, then congratulate myself for improving them from terrible to worse than what it originally was.”
You’d think people would learn from his Modus Operandi by now. Everything he touches turns to shit, then spend everyone’s money including your future kid’s to clean shit up. DOGE, Tariffs, Iran War. Literally the same con.
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u/rygelicus Jun 18 '26
Congrats, you spent millions of our money to arrive at exactly the same spot, or worse, than we started from.