The almost 1 million gallons of water in the pool at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center, which had been used for water polo, had mysteriously turned green, much like the water in the diving pool nearby.
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Clear-up efforts are also failing at the adjacent diving pool, which is a darker green and smelled like a “fart” on Friday, according to one diver.
“We’ve been trying for four days. Obviously it’s not going as fast as we wanted.so we’re going to change the water”, Nascimento told a press conference. According to USA Today, the solution is pretty simple, as they are going to take all the green water, drain it, and replace it with water that isn’t green. Nevertheless, some Australians complained that the green water bothered their eyes.
That sport was already scheduled to shift its remaining games to the Olympic Aquatics Stadium after the final session of swimming Saturday night.
“This (replacement operation) will be done overnight”.
‘The water in the warm-up pool is in ideal condition’.
Rio Olympics spokesman Mario Andrada said the “radical measure” had been taken after discussions with aquatics body FINA.
Some divers have said the green water actually helps them during competition by giving them a contrast with the blue sky when they’re spinning through the air.
But now it has been revealed the reason why it suddenly turned green was after 80 litres of hydrogen peroxide was put in the water.
Hydrogen peroxide is normally used as a disinfectant and for bleaching purposes. Our contractor’s failure is our failure.
The green pools became a huge headache for organisers of the Games, who have been the butt of “swamp” jokes among millions of spectators, both in the stands and from those watching on television. “The filters that we have here at Maria Lenk are sand filters which trap the solids which are in the water and make the water transparent”.
The electronic monitoring system for the pools at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center was functioning but was fooled by the chemical reaction to think that the chlorine was still working, Nascimento said. The fact that 120 athletes were using the diving pool also increased the amount of “organics” in the water, he added.
Officials blamed the color of the water on “the proliferation of algae” caused by the heat and lack of wind.
Nascimento says the move is necessary to ensure clear water for both judges and competitors during synchronized swimming. So the medium in which athletes, some who traveled thousands of miles to compete, can perform and show off what they’ve trained years for, is now back to a state where it won’t harm or hinder their results in any way, which is a good baseline for the Olympics.
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Mr Andrada stressed that Rio officials had been able to solve myriad issues plaguing the Games, but conceded they were out of short-term options when it came to the green water.
