Water is pumped from the Tidal Basin, an inlet of the Potomac River, to the treatment plant. There it is filtered and purified before being fed into the Reflecting Pool.
But when the water from the Tidal Basin is too murky or filled with algae — which is often — the pool is filled with city drinking water instead. This happens especially in the hot summer months, when algae blooms are prevalent.
No matter where the water comes from — the Tidal Basin or the city — it does not stay clean for long. In warm weather, the shallow pool bakes in the sun.
The treatment plant is supposed to combat this problem, using screens and sand to filter the water and a system that infuses the water with ozone gas, which kills algae and bacteria. The first Trump administration had called for an upgraded ozone system to make the treatment more effective. This year, the Trump administration is spending $1.7 million to buy one.
When it works, that system is supposed to filter all of the pool’s four million gallons every three days or so.
An illustration highlighting the large-diameter pipes that move large volumes of water between the treatment plant and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
When the pipes break, they have to be shut off, and the pool is disconnected from its filtration system. It is left stagnant, sometimes for weeks.
In Mr. Trump’s first term, the Park Service said the only solution was to replace thousands of feet of pipe. But it has still not done so. The Trump administration has said it plans to have that work begin in the fall, but has declined to give details.
See the problems that have plagued the Lincoln Memorial pool for decades and why President Trump’s repairs might not fix them.
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