The device used to clear the algae outbreak from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool following President Trump’s troubled refurbishment has never previously been used on a pool, according to a report.
The $1.7 million “ozone nanobubbler” operates by shooting 500 million microscopic bubbles of oxygen into every teaspoon of water in order to blast apart algae, bacteria and other unwanted contaminants.
However, the tech is just five-years-old and has only been tried out by its manufacturer Greenwater Services on waterway projects like the Tijuana River, Ohio’s Lake Newport and Florida’s Port Mayaca, CNN reports.
Greenwater explained to the network that it had faced a tight deadline to clear the pool in time for this coming weekend’s Fourth of July celebrations.
Because the nanobubbler in question was still being built at its Ohio plant when the process of refilling the 6.5 million pool began on June 4, it had sent in four temporary versions of the technology for use until the permanent model was ready.
Visible from the surface, the temporary devices were installed on June 6, together using the same amount of power as the permanent system, only to be removed on June 12 for a short period at the request of the National Park Service, which reportedly did not give a reason.
It was at this point that the algae blooms first materialized, encouraged by the warm, muggy summer weather in Washington, D.C., turning the water a lurid green color.
The New York Times has previously reported that problems with the stopgap devices may also have played a part in the spread of the water weed.
The Times cited documents in which workers complained that “one or two of the four temporary nanobubblers weren’t working at any given time because of problems with generators, and that the water was turning green.”
The temporary models were returned to the water 24 hours after their removal at the request of the NPS and ran until June 25.
By that point, the permanent nanobubbler had arrived, been installed out of sight in a nearby pump house and was ready to operate in their stead, supplying pure oxygen into the Reflecting Pool to tackle the algae via an intricate, though antiquated, network of pipes.
Chas Antinone, Greenwater’s president and chief operating officer, told CNN he believed the company’s part in the $16 million renovation of the 103-year-old landmark has gone according to plan, despite the uproar over the current state of the pool.
“I’ve got no political affiliation in this thing whatsoever either way,” he said. “And I don’t really care about that part. Our job was to come here and bring a technology that we think can keep the Reflecting Pool looking clean and reflect the way it is supposed to.”
The Department of the Interior has meanwhile defended the companies involved in the project, who were awarded no-bid contracts, by saying: “The White House was not involved in the selection process for any contract and did not weigh in on the companies selected. Full stop.
“These companies were selected because they had the expertise, workforce and materials needed to complete such a huge project in the timeline required to celebrate our nation’s 250th.”
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers and a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior both told The Independent that the water in the pool is currently “crystal clear” and that the landmark is “reflecting beautifully” once again.
The Independent also reached out to Greenwater Services and the NPS for further comment.
Trump has blamed the aquatic plant infestation and problems with the peeling “American Flag Blue” sealant used to re-line the bottom of the pool on Democrat-aligned saboteurs and on Sunday cheered an improvement in the water’s condition by reporting on Truth Social that the “criminally-made algae is gone.”
Six people were arrested over the vandalism alleged by the president last weekend and he has since reminded the public that the penalty for destruction of government property is prison.
