Trump UFC birthday promo spurs nanobubbler work at Reflecting Pool

Bulky nanobubbler machines were hauled off the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for 36 hours before a June 12 UFC promotional event tied to President Donald Trump’s birthday celebration, and algae spread soon after they were removed.

The Reflecting Pool sits on the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Completed in 1924, two years after the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated, the pool was conceived in the 1902 McMillan Plan for Washington. The National Park Service said the pool’s recent closure for lining and repair began on April 10 and was scheduled to run through June 10 at 7:00 p.m., covering the pool itself, adjacent sidewalks, and a staging area at JFK Hockey Fields.

The repair work was to clean the pool, fix joints, and install lining material. Instead, the renovated basin briefly refilled with about 6.5 million gallons of water spread across more than 300,000 square feet, and algae appeared within days. The Interior Department said it would use nanobubblers and hydrogen peroxide to combat the bloom, while crews skimming and vacuuming algae were seen on site alongside contractors from Green Water Solutions and Pearl Purity Water Solutions. Green Water Solutions was paid $1.7 million for an ozone nanobubbling system.

Trump had wanted the water clear and the bottom painted “American Flag Blue,” but by June 19 tears were appearing in the new sealant. A Smithsonian marine plant expert said there was “no quick fix,” and the pool is warm, stagnant, and sunlit. Trump later said repair work would begin “immediately” after inspection.