@DarthCoin is always right View quoted note →

# The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Is Not a Pool Problem. It Is a Systems Engineering Problem. When the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool turns green, the public reaction is predictable: someone must have failed to “clean the pool.” That reaction is understandable. It is also technically incomplete. The [Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool](https://www.nps.gov/places/000/lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool.htm) is not a swimming pool. It is not a decorative backyard fountain. It is a long, shallow, sun-exposed, public water feature sitting in one of the most visible civic landscapes in the country. Its purpose is aesthetic and symbolic: to create a calm optical surface between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. But biologically, it behaves like something else entirely. It behaves like a shallow, warm, nutrient-sensitive outdoor reactor. That distinction matters. A swimming pool is managed for human immersion with controlled access, aggressive disinfectants, known turnover rates, and a relatively small volume. A natural pond is managed as an ecology. The Reflecting Pool sits between those categories. It must look controlled, but it is exposed to the uncontrolled world. Birds, pollen, dust, heat, rain, runoff, insects, airborne nutrients, decaying organic matter, and biofilm all enter the system continuously. The engineering problem is not merely how to make the water clear once. The problem is how to keep an open, shallow, public, historic water body visually presentable while also keeping it safe for incidental contact by animals and wildlife. That requires a system, not a chemical trick. ## Why the Reflecting Pool Wants to Grow Algae Algae and cyanobacteria need four basic conditions: light, warmth, nutrients, and time. The Reflecting Pool naturally supplies most of these. It is shallow, so sunlight penetrates easily. It is broad and exposed, so it receives intense solar energy. In summer, shallow water warms quickly. Because it is a reflecting pool, not a high-agitation water feature, it cannot simply be blasted with visible turbulence all day without compromising its intended appearance. That leaves the last two variables: nutrients and residence time. Nutrients enter from many sources: fill water, sediment, bird droppings, pollen, leaves, dust, microbial biofilm, construction residue, and decaying organic material. Once algae grow and die, they can settle to the bottom, decompose, and release nutrients back into the water. The bottom of the pool can become a nutrient bank. Residence time is the other side of the equation. If water sits warm, sunlit, and nutrient-loaded for long enough, algae do not need much encouragement. They only need the system to be slow. This is why cosmetic fixes often fail. Resurfacing the basin, repainting the bottom, or shocking the water after it turns green may improve appearance temporarily, but none of those measures necessarily changes the underlying biological operating conditions. A bloom is not the root problem. It is the system reporting its state. ## Why Reverse Osmosis Is Not the Answer Reverse osmosis sounds attractive because it removes dissolved contaminants, including many nutrients. But it is the wrong primary tool for this application. RO is a pressurized membrane process. It works well when the water entering the membrane has already been pretreated and when the value of very pure water justifies the equipment, energy, maintenance, membrane replacement, and waste stream. That makes sense for drinking water, desalination, laboratories, and industrial processes. The Reflecting Pool is an open outdoor basin. Even if every gallon of fill water were purified by reverse osmosis, the water would immediately begin receiving nutrients and biological load from the environment. Birds, pollen, dust, rain, leaves, insects, and airborne material would continue to enter. RO also does not like algae-laden water. Biological material fouls membranes. To protect the RO system, operators would first need screening, filtration, chemical control, and possibly ultrafiltration. In other words, most of the actual algae-control work would have to be done before the RO system. RO would also create a concentrated waste stream. Whatever the membrane removes must go somewhere. That means plumbing, disposal, permitting, operational cost, and maintenance complexity. RO may have a niche role for treating makeup water if incoming nutrients are unusually high. But it is not the central solution to an open biological system. ## Why High Salinity Is Not the Answer Another tempting idea is to make the water salty enough that freshwater algae struggle to grow. This also solves the wrong problem by creating larger ones. High salinity would suppress many freshwater organisms, but it would not make the basin biologically inert. It would select for salt-tolerant organisms, salt-adapted biofilms, mineral crusting, and new maintenance problems. Salt would also concentrate as water evaporates. A shallow pool under summer sun acts like an evaporative pan. Water leaves; salt stays. Without continuous monitoring, dilution, and blowdown, salinity would drift upward. The bigger issue is infrastructure. Chloride is aggressive. Salt accelerates corrosion of metals, attacks reinforced concrete systems, damages equipment, migrates into surrounding materials, affects soil and vegetation, and complicates discharge. A monumental stone-and-concrete public water feature on the National Mall is a poor candidate for deliberate brine conversion. Salt would not be an elegant solution. It would be a transfer of failure mode: less freshwater algae pressure in exchange for corrosion, scaling, discharge, vegetation damage, and long-term maintenance risk. ## The Constraint: Presentable Water That Is Safe for Animals The right objective is not sterilization. The objective is bloom suppression while maintaining water that is not toxic to animals, birds, pets, or wildlife that may incidentally contact or ingest it. That rules out crude chemical escalation. A heavily chlorinated or metal-treated basin may look cleaner in the short term, but it can become hostile to animals and damaging to the surrounding environment. Copper-based algaecides, high chlorine residuals, high salinity, and repeated chemical shocks are all poor fits if animal safety is a primary constraint. The correct strategy is to make the system unfavorable to blooms without turning the water into poison. That means four operating verbs: **Move. Remove. Starve. Monitor.** Move the water so algae do not get long stagnant residence times. Remove biomass before it decomposes and recycles nutrients. Starve the bloom by controlling phosphate, nitrogen, and organic loading. Monitor the system so operators act before the water visibly fails. The animal-safety issue is not theoretical. The [EPA warns that harmful algal blooms, especially cyanobacterial blooms, can affect people, animals, and ecosystems](https://www.epa.gov/habs/learn-about-harmful-algae-cyanobacteria-and-cyanotoxins). The [CDC also warns that people and animals should avoid water that may contain harmful algal blooms](

Page Not Found | CDC

Page Not Found | CDC

## A Better Engineering Architecture A credible system for the Reflecting Pool would likely combine hydraulic design, mechanical removal, nutrient control, low-residual treatment, and instrumentation. ### 1. Hydraulic Turnover With Dead-Zone Elimination The pool needs more than “a pump running.” A long shallow rectangle can have impressive pump flow and still have stagnant regions. Water can short-circuit from inlet to outlet while corners, seams, edges, or bottom areas remain slow and biologically active. The design objective should be full-basin movement. That may require distributed returns, multiple suction points, induced raceway flow, directional nozzles, or variable nighttime flow patterns. During the day, flow may need to be quieter to preserve the reflecting surface. At night, when visual calm matters less, the system can run more aggressively. A useful operating model would be: - Quiet circulation during visitor hours. - High-turnover filtration overnight. - Pre-dawn polishing before the daily sunlight cycle begins. - No persistent stagnant regions. ### 2. Continuous or Nightly Robotic Bottom Cleaning The bottom of the pool should not be allowed to become a nutrient reservoir. Robotic or autonomous cleaning systems could remove settled dust, pollen, leaves, bird waste, grit, dead algae, and microbial film before that material decomposes. This is especially important in a shallow basin because the bottom is close to the sunlit water column. Nutrients released from sediment do not remain isolated; they quickly participate in the bloom cycle. For a pool of this scale, ordinary residential pool robots are probably insufficient. The system would likely require multiple industrial-grade autonomous cleaners, programmed cleaning lanes, docking stations, debris collection, telemetry, and maintenance access that does not interfere with public use. The goal is not cosmetic vacuuming. The goal is nutrient interruption. ### 3. Fine Mechanical Filtration Mechanical filtration should be sized for algae and organic load, not merely clear-water polishing. A proper side-stream or recirculation system would include coarse debris removal, fine filtration, and filter differential-pressure monitoring. Filters must be serviced before captured biomass decomposes and becomes another nutrient source. The system should physically export biological material from the water. Killing algae in place is inferior to removing it. Dead algae that remain in the basin can release nutrients and feed the next bloom. ### 4. UV Treatment in the Recirculation Loop Ultraviolet treatment is attractive because it can damage suspended algae and microorganisms without leaving a toxic residual in the pool. UV is not magic. It only treats water that passes through the reactor, and it does not clean the floor, walls, seams, pipe biofilm, or stagnant corners. But paired with strong turnover and filtration, it can reduce viable suspended organisms while avoiding persistent chemical toxicity. UV belongs in the treatment loop, not as a standalone answer. ### 5. Phosphate and Nutrient Control If phosphate is available, algae will use it. If organic material settles and decomposes, it becomes fertilizer. If construction residue or stagnant piping contributes nutrients, the pool can bloom quickly after refill. A serious design should include nutrient control, especially phosphate capture. This can be done more safely through side-stream treatment media than by indiscriminately dumping chemicals into the basin. Potential methods include: - Phosphate-removal media. - Clarification or settling outside the visible basin. - Frequent debris removal. - Control of runoff and organic inputs. - Careful commissioning after construction. - Laboratory testing during bloom season. Nutrient control is not optional. Without it, circulation and cleaning become a treadmill. ### 6. Biofilm Management in Pipes and Hidden Surfaces A basin can be cleaned and refilled, then rapidly reseeded by contaminated piping. Dormant lines, sumps, drains, and low-flow plumbing can hold biofilm. When flow resumes, that biofilm can seed the pool with organisms and nutrients. Any real solution must include flushing, sanitation, drain-down protocols, and cleanable plumbing design. Startup after construction or maintenance should be treated as a commissioning event, not as a normal operating day. Dormant systems need aggressive inspection and controlled restart. The National Park Service has previously treated Reflecting Pool work as a larger water-quality and infrastructure project, including supply, drainage, and structural improvements, rather than merely a cosmetic cleaning exercise. See the [NPS Reflecting Pool rehabilitation project page](

Error

PEPC - Error

and related [project documentation](

ParkPlanning - Document Files

PEPC - Error

### 7. Real-Time Monitoring Operators should not have to wait until the water turns green. Useful measurements include: - Temperature. - pH. - Turbidity. - Dissolved oxygen. - Oxidation-reduction potential if oxidants are used. - Flow rate. - Filter pressure. - Phosphate and nitrate sampling. - Chlorophyll-a or fluorescence proxy. - Phycocyanin proxy for cyanobacteria risk. The goal is predictive operation. If the system can detect rising turbidity, nutrient load, or biological activity early, operators can increase turnover, clean sediment, service filters, adjust nutrient media, or run treatment cycles before the pool visibly fails. ## What a Potential Solution Looks Like A practical, animal-conscious solution would likely operate in cycles. During the day, the pool runs in presentation mode. Circulation continues, but surface disturbance is minimized. Skimmers remove floating debris. Sensors watch the system. The pool remains visually calm. In the evening, the system shifts to recovery mode. Pumps increase turnover through filtration and UV. Flow patterns change to move water through the entire basin. Robotic cleaners begin floor-cleaning routes. Settled biomass is collected before it decomposes. Overnight, the system runs high-removal mode. Fine filtration, UV treatment, and phosphate media remove suspended organisms and nutrients. Cleaners dock, empty, or are serviced. Filter status is checked. Before dawn, the system enters polishing mode. Turbidity is reduced. The water is prepared for another day of sunlight, heat, visitors, birds, and atmospheric loading. Periodically, the hidden parts of the system are cleaned: sumps, drains, lines, filters, strainers, and low-flow regions. The pool is not merely treated as a basin. It is treated as a complete water-handling system. Recent reports about renewed algae problems after renovation have described crews using treatment approaches such as hydrogen peroxide and nanobubble/ozone-related systems, which reinforces the central point: the problem is operational and biological, not merely visual. See, for example, [ABC7 Chicago’s report on the continuing algae battle](

ABC7 Chicago

Page Not Found | abc7chicago.com

and the [Associated Press report on the post-renovation algae problem](https://apnews.com/article/trump-reflecting-pool-renovation-1235f9417697bb2e1f56e14e4d2214de). ## The Broader Lesson The Reflecting Pool is a useful public example because it reveals a common engineering error: treating a system-level failure as a component-level defect. Green water is not simply a failure to add the right chemical. It is the visible output of hydraulics, biology, nutrients, heat, sunlight, surface geometry, maintenance cadence, sensor coverage, and operational discipline. The right design is not to make the pool hostile to life. The right design is to deny blooms the conditions they need while keeping the water safe for incidental animal contact. That means no fantasy of a one-time fix. No belief that a coating, a chemical, salt, or reverse osmosis will permanently solve an open ecological system. The Reflecting Pool can be kept presentable. But it requires continuous governance of the water: circulation, removal, nutrient control, low-toxicity treatment, and instrumentation. In engineering terms, the answer is not a cleaner pool. The answer is a managed biological process with civic aesthetics as a hard requirement. View quoted note →

We already have our share bots, simps and trolls, why are we so jealous of Twitter?

The natural fruit of civilization is falling prices: more knowledge, better tools, better energy capture, better logistics, better specialization, and better capital structure should make goods easier to obtain over time. Population does not merely add mouths; it adds minds and hands. Energy is not merely consumed; it is discovered, harvested, converted, and economized. Therefore, in a productive civilization using honest money, the ordinary person’s purchasing power should rise as time passes. Persistent general price inflation is not prosperity. It is tribute extracted through monetary debasement, regulatory enclosure, artificial scarcity, and political protection of incumbents.

Its been at least a year, maybe more since @Fountain added NIP46 and amber support to their app. I couldn't switch to fountain when they added nostr support because they originally required your nsec. So I switched to AntennaPod. When they added nip46, I tried it dozens of times, dozens of versions over the course of about a year, and it has never worked for me. Whatever is wrong apparently will never be fixed and either they don't know about it or they don't care. The last time I complained about a problem with fountain, I got flamed for "asking too much" because they are overwhelmed. That is when I took a break for a year, hoping it might improve on its own. Over the past 6 to 9 months, I tried bunker support a few more times. Same problem. Now Amethyst is beginning to add podcast support. Fountain is becoming irrelevant. It's disappointing to see missed opportunities like this. Lesson: do not flame your customers for telling you there is something wrong. Customers are not only those who pay you directly, they are those who give you their attention. Attention is capital. They are the only ones who care enough to tell you something is wrong. When you flame them, they will go away, because you told them you don't want their business or attention.

To wear a mask in public is a display of submission

Is it a tax, or Is it attacks? amirite?