The Olympics allows the world to witness sights we don’t see everyday. Men running 100 meters sub-10 seconds, impossible feats of endurance and strength, and…abnormal swimming pools.
The now-infamous green waters of Rio have been grabbing more headlines than the athletes who are supposed to be competing in them. The pools remain an alien-shade of green, as Rio officials are still unclear on how the “proliferation of algae” was able to manifest to that point, says the Associated Press.
“We first learned that chemistry is not an exact science,” Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada told the AP last week.
The Olympic pools are said to have changed green thanks to algae growth, which officials have attributed to a lack of wind, and that South American heat. Experts are citing chemical imbalances as a cause for the algae growth in the pools, making it seem like a chain reaction that’s led to these unkempt pools. “Amoebae-like shapes” were caught by underwater cameras, says the AP, when the pools started to mutate early last week.
With all the scrutiny surrounding the swamp pools, some scientists claim that preventing algae, and therefore green waters, is elementary science.
“The basic principles of maintaining disinfectant, proper pH, and circulation and filtration are scientifically sound and well established,” says Tom Lachocki, executive director of the National Swimming Pool Foundation in Colorado Springs.
Rio officials are still trying to return the water to its original, clear blue state using good ol’ fashioned chlorine.
