Reflections on the Reflecting Pool
As commenter “physicsguy” writes:
Report on my leftist friends: they are obsessed with the Reflecting pool and algae growth there. They see it as evidence of what an idiot Trump is and how it’s all his fault.
For many, the fact that Trump still draws breath is an affront, and evidence of what an idiot he is. However, as far as the Reflecting Pool renovations go, there have been arrests of five people for sabotage – although the NBC article I just linked says the arrests are “with no evidence so far.” There’s more information on that at this article:
As of June 21, the identity of one person who was arrested has emerged.
David Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist, was arrested by U.S. Park Police on June 19 and charged with misdemeanor destruction of government property, the Washington Post first reported. Hearn did not immediately return USA TODAY’s request to speak on June 21.
Hearn told the Post he reached into the Reflecting Pool and was able to “grab” the end of a “flapping piece,” but didn’t remove it.
“I didn’t vandalize anything,” the 67-year-old told the outlet. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”
U.S. Park Police did not return USA TODAY’s request for comment. When asked what they know about the arrests, D.C. Metro Police told USA TODAY to contact U.S. Park Police.
Aside from Hearn, it’s unclear who else has been arrested or what charges they might be facing. Trump said law enforcement is currently investigating.
The office of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declined to comment on the alleged arrests.
Speaking to Peter Doocy on Fox News’ “Sunday Briefing,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said that “anyone who is in a position of vandalizing or attempting to vandalize the Reflecting Pool will face the criminal justice system in DC.”
Pirro stopped short of commenting on arrests, or saying anyone had been arrested, but did say several citations have been issued related to the Reflecting Pool, and that those citations will be prosecuted to the full extent.
I, for one, can manage without a whole lot more detail at this point.
I find the following quite interesting, though, and could serve as something to let Facebook friends know:
Algae has resurfaced in the reflecting pool periodically over the years — including immediately after it reopened from its last major renovation in 2012, forcing the National Park Service to drain it, refill it and recalibrate its ozone level. And in 2019, crews had to drain four million gallons from the pool to fix a broken water line that had algae growing in it.
An Interior Department spokesperson told NPR over email that algae and other contaminants have “long plagued the Reflecting Pool since 1922,” pointing to the Obama-era renovation as an example.
You might want to highlight the words “Obama-era renovation.” It turns out that there was a more expensive renovation during the Obama administration and it didn’t go very well. You might suggest they take a trip back in time and look at this from August of 2012:
The reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall reopened Friday after a two-year, $34 million reconstruction, completing the largest National Park Service project funded by President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package. …
Now the pool has been reengineered with a circulation and filtration system. Instead of using city drinking water, it draws river water from the nearby Tidal Basin, which will save 20 million gallons of drinking water each year.
The pool is shallower — only 3 feet at its deepest point — to save water, and its bottom is tinted grey to make the water darker and more reflective of the 555-foot-tall Washington Monument. …
For two years, the massive reconstruction project shut down a large swath of the National Mall as the old pool was removed.
Sounds familiar, except it took two years and was far more expensive than Trump’s renovations (reported to have been about 14 million) – although it sounds as though what Obama did was more extensive in terms of landscaping. And what was the result of the Obama changes? Why, algae, naturally. From October of 2012, about a month after the pool was first opened after the renovation:
The newly-renovated reflecting pool was drained of water this week after ABC7 reported that unsightly algae and scum was creeping into it.
It comes less than two weeks after the algae was discovered growing on the water, something that isn’t supposed to happen after the multimillion dollar renovation.
The algae was noticed at one end of the reflecting pool in late September. It almost completely covered the surface of the water.
The reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall reopened at the end of August after a two-year, $34 million reconstruction. It was the largest National Park Service project funded by President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package.
Here’s the explanation for the algae at that time:
The Park Service says the Tidal Basin water isn’t chemically treated. Instead, it’s treated with ozone. The level of ozone, however, needs to be adjusted to prevent the algae from forming, but tweaking the levels post-bloom and trying to skim it off wasn’t working fast enough.
“Because we didn’t have it right at the beginning, the algae established itself,” says Carol Johnson, spokesperson for the National Park Service. “Algae doubles in size every four hours so it is a formidable foe.”
I have little doubt that Trump’s Obama-admiring critics will have the creativity to come up a reason why that is so different, and why Obama is brilliant while Trump is still an idiot. But to me, the whole thing indicates that the Reflecting Pool seems to want to grow algae.
More on the present situation, including some scientific background:
The Trump administration is using a mix of mitigation strategies, including pouring hydrogen peroxide into the water to kill the algae.
The Interior Department says hydrogen peroxide is a “milder treatment than chlorine and is used in spas and specialty pools like natural swimming pools,” adding “there are no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment.”
Workers are also deploying what the department calls “high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to neutralize algae and other pathogens in the pool.
I wish them good luck:
Rosalina Stancheva Christova, a professor of aquatic ecology at George Mason University in Virginia, took water samples from the pool on Tuesday. She confirmed the algae belongs to the genus Desmodesmus, which she said is “growing in excessive amounts” but is not toxic or harmful.
Christova says this kind of common green algae is found all over the region, especially this time of year. The reflecting pool in particular provides “excellent conditions” for algae growth, she said: shallow, stagnant water, strong sunlight and no shade.
“It could happen every single summer,” she added. “But it seems that the disturbance of the pond during the renovations [is] accelerating this process.”
It’s happened before, it will happen again – but it’s all Trump’s fault.
ADDENDUM:
Whoopi Goldberg says that the Reflecting Pool never had algae before.
And that Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
You silly girl, don’t you know that everything is Trump’s fault for those who are either democrat voters or leftists? (Yes, the Venn diagram overlap is about 99% of those two groups, but I don’t want to be seen as some kind of absolutist.) There is no point is attempting to argue from the facts with those who have developed a case of TDS. It’s like arguing with someone who calls you a racist without proof, then insists that the fact that you deny being one is irrebutable proof that you are. It’s heads they win, tails you lose all the way.
Neo,
There’s no reason to point out any of the facts you cite regarding the pool to these people. The TDS is so bad that their standard response is “You lie! and so does Trump!” I no longer respond at all to any of their delusions. I just lurk to see what they are saying. A fascinating daily glimpse into the severely TDS infected “thinking”.
BTW, my pool consultant told me that to never have algae the key is to eliminate any phosphates as that is it primary food source. I’ve been using a half cup of this phosphate “eater” every week and have never had any algae despite summer pool temps in the upper 80s. Chlorine levels at minimum, and I test for everything else once a week and adjust as needed. It’s a salt pool , BTW.
Search on Amazon, Orenda PR-10000 Phosphate remover
Well, Washington D.C. is full of scum. Didn’t the city have a major sewage pipeline break/release into the Potomach River earlier in the spring? Mmmmm, nutrient-enriched river water in the Tidal Basin for the endemic algae.
The reflecting pool is one of many major water sites (pools, fountains, etc.) in DC that have been under renovation for the upcoming 250 Fourth of July.
Some of these sites include the fountain near Union Station, Meridian Hill Park Cascades (AKA Malcolm X Park), Lafayette Park across from the White House, etc. I believe that I read somewhere it is about a dozen or so sites to be cleaned up.
Most have been very successful (and very stunning! everyone do a google search for the Meridian Hill Cascades; it is beautiful) in the renovation; yet, not surprisingly, the media and Trump haters haven’t spent much time on these successes instead they are fixated on the reflecting pool’s “failures.”
I went to college in DC and the reflecting pool, it seems to me, has always been dirty in one way or another so it is not surprising to me that they are having problems. As that professor says: “shallow, stagnant water, strong sunlight and no shade” it is no wonder that algae grows.
But it is a shame that TDS is causing them to look at one problem and overlook all the successes.
To rephrase a joke from Bush Derangement Syndrome days: Trump was walking along the beach and slipped on some seaweed. One of his shoes flew into the ocean. So as to not get his suit wet Trump walked on top of the surf to retrieve his shoe. It was a miracle – Trump walked on water! Yet the headlines the next day screamed “Trump cannot swim so he had to walk on the water instead.”
But to me, the whole thing indicates that the Reflecting Pool seems to want to grow algae.
Anyone here see a connection between the algae in the reflecting pool and the mysterious algae-generating alien entity in Area X of Jeff VandeMeers’ “Southern Reach” novels?
Why can’t they just put chlorine in the pool ,what am I missing !
When I resurfaced my swimming pool back in 2016, the missus and I chose a darker color plaster, something called Bermuda Blue IIRC. It looked great, there was just one problem: by changing from a much lighter blue to a darker color the summertime temps in the pool jumped from about 82 to 86-87, which resulted in…algae. My pool guy had to rebalance the chemicals he was using, and what do you know? Problem solved.
We had a small pond and waterfalls in our previous back yard. We added a chemical algicide every month. The fish and the plants were fine.
Do people actually watch “The View” in any significant numbers? I wonder how long ABC will be able to justify its existence. It claims to be a “news” program.
Not to belittle the algae concerns, but this seems to be a First World Problem.
I’m thinking that going back to city water instead of river water night help, but I appreciate the budget and environmental concerns.
Kate: Do people actually watch “The View” in any significant numbers?
Please see https://ustvdb.com/. The View is #46 in the Top 50 TV shows. If you click on The View in that list, you’ll see that its audience has been steady at about 2.5 million for the last 5 years.
Almost as many as watched the premier of The Kardashians on ABC.
Selfy, I read a blurb that makes me think they stopped using water directly from the Potomac but may not have. Sources differ. Even though the pool is shallow the water volume is enormous, something around 6.5 million gallons or roughly 10 Olympic size swimming pools. I suspect the volume of chlorine needed is likely a concern from both cost as well as the impact to the surrounding environment so it probably can’t be overloaded just in case. If the water isn’t circulating it’s probably hard to keep the level appropriate as well.
Thanks, AppleBetty. 2.5 million idiotic women watching, and probably a few sad souls who are tasked with watching just to provide clips of the show’s most ridiculous moments.
All commenting on the use of chlorine for pools vs algae. …again see my comment above on phosphates. No food source, no algae, and then no need to try and kill it all off.
om: “Washington D.C. is full of scum”
Even outside of the Capitol building???
Progressive NGOs, K Street, DNC headquarters …..
This is what happens when the ‘scientific experts’ are heeded, instead of simply asking a few real world, experienced pool ‘technicians’ how they keep algae at bay. Preferably, ones that maintain Olympic sized pools.
Time-lapse photos run from March to June 10, with one visual “jump” at the end of the sequence which is unexplained.
Nice overhead view of the pool and surrounding area.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2026/06/22/reflecting-pool-renovation-dc-timelapse/90648524007/
There were early reports that the H2O2 itself was making the blue liner peel off, since it is an ingredient in some products for removing paint, but I haven’t seen much follow-up on that one. As has been stressed repeatedly by Pres. Trump (including in The Hill post), the blue liner is different, and heavier, than paint, so that seems a tenuous connection.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5926372-hydrogen-peroxide-reflecting-pool/
“The park service is using hydrogen peroxide in addition to an advanced filtration system that deploys ozone-injected nanobubbles to break down toxins and contaminants in the pool, the DOI spokesperson said.
Hydrogen peroxide is used in spas and natural swimming pools as a less-harsh alternative to chlorine treatments. The DOI spokesperson said the chemical has “no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment.”
Steve Goodale, a pool maintenance expert, told CNN on Tuesday afternoon that hydrogen peroxide acts “kind of like a turbocharge button” for the oxidization process.”
Since hydrogen peroxide is used in other pools, and some of those are probably painted, I find it hard to believe the construction company and the Park Service are unaware of any potential problems, but I’ve been surprised before at how much information “doesn’t compute” for people who ought to know better.
Or the early reports could have been wrong (they are merely repeated in these examples).
And I don’t trust any fact checkers these days unless I can get two or more reports from opposite sides of the political aisle.
(And a fast drive-by search didn’t show any Republican/Trump friendly sites on the first page.)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/fact-check-reflecting-pools-blue-222800742.html
I do find it more credible that the renovators didn’t clean the empty pipes thoroughly before restarting the system, although it supposedly has filtration and cleaning as part of its circulation & reuse capabilities.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/staff-spotted-dumping-hydrogen-peroxide-into-reflecting-pool-to-kill-algae/ar-AA25Mi6H
“A New York Times report from May walks through why this isn’t going to work. First, Trump’s renovation never addressed the pipes.”
I had a pool and had algae issues every now and then. I would shock the pool and watch the dead green stuff settle on the bottom. I quickly learned that when sweeping up the dead stuff, move the vacuum slowly! Move too fast and the dead stuff would be mixed in the water and you had to wait a day for it to settle. That’s why the cleaners at the reflecting pool are moving slowly, but you can see the difference between the green and the blue bottom.
I think they should just use the city water or build a small treatment plant to clean the tidal basin water before it goes into the pool. If the water is the same as 10 Olympic size pools, upsize the treatment facility to that level.
Thanks, Physicsguy, I will try it. I have very small pond in my backyard. Water recirculates, goes up to a water feature and down into the pond. I have had minor issues with algae in the past, but time it is really bad. I have tried a lot of different things and they have helped. As I said, next stop Amazon
Has Dr. Jill finished the autopsy of the poor little reflecting pool duckling yet?
Aren’t we lucky that we have Whoopi to keep us informed! 🙂
I have to think that the design of the Reflecting Pool poses some unique challenges that are generally not faced by people managing swimming pools.
Swimming pools have a much lower surface area to water volume ratio, being anywhere from 6 to 9 feet deep (taking Olympic dimensions) with a surface area of about 13,000 square feet. The Reflecting Pool is from 18 to 30 *inches* deep with a surface area of around 330,000 square feet. The water heats much more rapidly as well as evaporating much faster. I suspect that it circulates much more slowly than the typical swimming pool.
I suspect the problem with phosphate elimination is the whole area is surrounded by green space which means runoff water is guaranteed to be rich in phosphate and other fertilizers, and the pool is sunk into the lawn areas rather than elevated above them the way most swimming pools are.
Shirehome,
Just go easy with the stuff. I use barely a half cup for a 12000 gal pool. As Brylcreame used to say…” a little dab will do ya”.
Fish. They need fish in there.
which would, of course lead to further problems — people complaining of the smell of dead fish when they die, the fact that they could not survive the winter, and of course people fishing in the pool.
Or they could fill the pond with gold-colored sand and hope it would reflect.
This morning, the Babylon Bee for the win:
https://babylonbee.com/news/reflecting-pool-algae-surges-ahead-of-kamala-in-2028-dem-presidential-polls
And my leftists friends are now aghast that Trump is a duck murderer as a dead duck was found in the pool. I’m still amazed how seemingly normal people become raving maniacs when the subject of Trump comes up. TDS is truly a clinical mental phenomenon. But given the entire psychological community is also infected, I doubt it will receive the research needed.
So, Democrats are standing up for pond scum.
Former Chemistry teacher:
H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) is indeed harmless. After it releases the extra oxygen, it becomes just H2O.
Those who have bought those brown plastic bottles will attest that the substance readily ‘goes flat’ with no fizzies. BTW, buy smaller bottles, and you won’t be wasting it.
Nick Sortor:
https://x.com/i/status/2069514939878777042
Video clip at link
Cappy on June 23, 2026 at 9:06 am said:
So, Democrats are standing up for pond scum.
+++++