{"id":1169,"date":"2026-06-22T23:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1169"},"modified":"2026-06-22T23:00:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:00:20","slug":"heres-why-the-lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-went-green-so-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1169","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s why the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool went green so fast"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Just days after the Trump administration completed millions of dollars in renovations on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to make it American-flag blue, residents and online users noted it had turned a phosphorescent green.<\/p>\n

Read more L.A. state of emergency: What we know about Boyle Heights fire<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

The calm, still waters of the Reflecting Pool make it an ideal nursery for algae growth. Algae need nitrogen and phosphorus to grow, and the Reflecting Pool is primarily fed by the Potomac River, which gets heavy doses of those nutrients from nearby urban and agricultural lands. <\/p>\n

The Potomac also absorbed one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history earlier this year when a pipe burst five miles upstream of Washington, although that event probably happened too long ago to contribute to the algal bloom today. <\/p>\n

Untreated sewage is high in nitrogen and phosphorus. When nutrient levels are high, feasting algae can quickly reproduce. <\/p>\n

The Department of the Interior said when the algae first appeared that it was \u201cresidual,\u201d from the supply lines to the pool.<\/p>\n

Experts also speculate that the darker blue color may be helping the Reflecting Pool absorb more heat. The higher temperatures promote algae growth by allowing their metabolisms to shift into overdrive.<\/p>\n

Summer temperatures in D.C. aren\u2019t helping. This week, temperatures are as high as 95 degrees in the city, prompting a heat alert.<\/p>\n

The combination probably explains the excessive growth, turning the water surface an opaque green and preventing onlookers from seeing the new blue hue of the concrete basin. <\/p>\n

Read more California labor union offers to scale back billionaire tax proposal after pushback<\/a><\/p>\n

Algae are important and beneficial organisms when the ecosystem is in balance. They\u2019re the base of the aquatic food chain, fed on by herbivores of all shapes and sizes, including shrimp and juvenile fish, which in turn feed organisms higher up the food chain. The single-celled organisms use the power of the sun to produce energy through photosynthesis, similar to houseplants on your balcony. <\/p>\n

In an effort to combat the algae in the Reflecting Pool, employees of the National Park Service were seen pouring in gallons of hydrogen peroxide, a chemical commonly used in pool maintenance.<\/p>\n

The Department of the Interior also is employing a \u201chigh-tech nanobubble ozone technology\u201d to destroy the cells of the algae. <\/p>\n

\n

For the record:<\/p>\n

12:22 p.m. June 22, 2026<\/span>
\n An earlier version of this story said ozone is composed of three oxygen molecules. It is composed of three oxygen atoms.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ozone \u2014 yes, the same irritant that is in smog \u2014 is a gas composed of three oxygen atoms, and the small size of the bubbles allows the most gas transfer into the water, where it can damage algal cells, similar to how it irritates our lungs. <\/p>\n

This only treats the symptoms, however. Generally, ozone nanobubbling is effective as a temporary solution for algae blooms. Longer-term fixes would have to address what makes the Reflecting Pool so ideal for algae, such as its depth, darker color and inflow of nitrogen and phosphorus.<\/p>\n

In California, ozone nanobubbles also have been used in a project to improve water quality in the Tijuana River. The 120-mile river that runs near the border in northern Mexico and Southern California was the site of a pilot study in 2025. The U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission reported that the nanobubbling reduced \u201codors and bacteria,\u201d but the project concluded after a flood swept some of the instrumentation into the river. <\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court says ex-LAPD officer may be sued for excessive force in street shooting<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reflecting pool turned an interesting shade of green awfully fast. Here is why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate"],"yoast_head":"\nHere\u2019s why the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool went green so fast - California Relocation Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1169\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here\u2019s why the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool went green so fast - California Relocation Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The reflecting pool turned an interesting shade of green awfully fast. 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