As you may have heard, that expensive new blue paint has been flaking off the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. The President claims that this is an act of sabotage.
Today I wanted to test his claim. So I asked Gemini a series of questions. Here are those questions, followed by Gemini’s answers:
(1) What was poured into the water of the Washington DC reflecting pool to kill the algae?
Workers poured gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to combat aggressive algae blooms following a multimillion-dollar repainting project.
(2) If you pour hydrogen peroxide into a pool, can it cause paint to come off the pool walls?
Yes, high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide can cause pool paint to soften, bubble, lose adhesion, and peel. While standard 3% household peroxide is generally mild, shocking a pool or using industrial concentrations (12% to 30%+) creates a strong oxidizer that degrades the polymer bonds in pool coatings, especially if the paint is fresh or inadequately cured.
(3) What concentration of hydrogen peroxide was poured into the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool to disburse the algae?
Crews poured a 12% concentration of hydrogen peroxide (four times stronger than standard household peroxide) into the pool. The National Park Service manually dumped the liquid from 1-gallon bottles to combat a severe algae bloom following renovations.