Compared to Trump's counterproductive and unsustainable tariffs policy, his cruel and racist immigration program, and his catastrophic and unnecessary war in Iran, I suppose turning the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool into an algae-ridden green lagoon is not that big a deal. Nevertheless, it's a major embarrassment and potential health hazard and it must be rectified before July 4th. After all, Trump wants everything to look "just beautiful" on the nation's 250th birthday!
With this in mind, I thought I should be a good citizen and try to help him out. My qualifications? Well, I owned a home with a pool for 35 years and I always took care of it myself. As the saying goes, it's not brain surgery. To begin with, every five years or so, you need to drain the pool and refurbish the walls and the bottom using a chemical treatment or sand paper. I suggest Trump use sand paper and do the job himself. It's not as much fun as golf, but it burns way more calories and will prevent liberals from trying to post a Goodyear sign on his back. After that, you need to make sure you put new filters in the system and flush the pipes of any remaining algae. Otherwise the new water you fill the pool with starts off with algae already in it. And algae can multiply and spread quite rapidly.
My guess is, this is the mistake that Trump's first no-bid contractor made. Also, you don't paint the bottom of a pool a dark color-- unless you live in Alaska. Why? Because we all know from grade school that darker colors absorb more heat than lighter colors. And more heat breeds more algae. I always painted my pool white, and when you have the proper chemical balance, the pool water looks sky blue, which is what you want, not American flag blue, the color Trump's "pool guy" painted it. And in addition to using the wrong color, he used the wrong type of paint, an industrial-grade, thick protective rubberized sealant. This type of paint is not designed for full submersion in pools. It's more commonly used for roofs or ponds, or perhaps painting over Trump's name on government buildings.
In addition, if they did a rush job and did not allow the sealant to dry completely before adding the water, guess what happens? The sealant (or any type of pool paint, for that matter) tends to peel off, which is what has happened. In fact, tourists got a kick out of pulling floating pieces of sealant out of the pool as souvenirs. And the only thing the pool ended up reflecting was Trump's own mind-numbing ignorance and lack of judgment. And speaking of lack of judgment, do you know the name of the company of Trump's other "pool guy" who tried unsuccessfully to remove the algae from the water by using hydrogen peroxide and nanobubble technology? Greenwater Services. I'm not kidding! Naturally, he's a shady character and longtime Trump donor who got the job on another no-bid contract for $1.7 million. I hope Trump kept his receipt because from what I've read, the owner of the company, John "J.J." Cafaro, is not the kind of guy who gives refunds.
Finally, once the pool is properly refurbished, painted, and refilled with algae-free water, then you need to use the proper chemicals to balance the pH factor, which for most pools is between 7.4 and 7.6. The truth is, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has had problems with algae attacks in the past. And once you have an algae attack, it's very difficult to get rid of it. You need to throw a ton of algaecide in the pool and keep brushing the walls and bottom and filtering out the algae. For a pool of this enormous size (you know, bigger than the Empire State Building, according to Trump), it could take weeks, or even months to get it clear. Which is why Trump finally decided to drain the pool and start over.
Of course being Trump, he did not take responsibility for his actions or blame his contractors for their mistakes. Instead, he blamed vandals (without evidence), who, no doubt, were inspired by leftist radicals or Antifa. I sure hope his contractors have learned from their mistakes, because if they haven't the pool will not be ready by July 4th and could very well look like The Green Lagoon Part II. As a concerned citizen, I'd be happy to be a consultant on their second effort and make sure they do the job right. Unfortunately, I don't work cheap. No-bid contract anyone?
