U.S. National Park Service employees are pictured using a vacuum pump to clean algae off the bottom of the newly repainted Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, which on Friday started peeling and floating to the top of the pool. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
June 19 (UPI) -- After cleaning algae from the Lincoln Memorial's Reflecting Pool weeks after its $15 million renovation, the Interior Department now has to deal with blue paint applied to its bottom peeling off.
President Donald Trump's renovation of the national monument was meant to clear the water and prevent algae, and included painting the bottom of the pool "American Flag Blue" in the effort to improve it's look.
The Reflecting Pool has for decades been known for some algae and unclear water, though it was designed to reflect the Washington Monument and sky rather than appear similar to other fountains and water features at monuments that have filtration systems that prevent water from being still enough to reflect their surroundings.
The pool's new paint job was meant as an upgrade ahead of celebrations for the 250th birthday of the United States of America but after it was refilled following the paint job, green sludge started appearing on the water's surface -- and on Friday, chunks of paint could be seen floating to its top, as well.
