Andrada said water in the main pool would be replaced because synchronised swimming competitors and judges needed to see underwater, unlike diving.
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Olympic officials gave up on cleaning the green-tinged water in one of the pools at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center.
Hydrogen peroxide can be used to clean the pools but it is not meant to be combined with chlorine as the chemical reaction causes a colour change.
“Of course it’s an embarrassment”, he said.
The move to drain the water comes after attempts to put chemicals in the pool to return it to familiar blue didn’t work.
Olympic officials are to drain one of the swimming pools that turned green and refill it in a bid to revert it to its usual colour.
Officials shut the pool down to do some more testing, but reopened it by noon and Friday competitions began as scheduled. Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada said the “radical measure” was necessary to ensure visibility for athletes competing in upcoming synchronized swimming events.
The organization of Rio 2016 has always stated that the water didn’t pose any threat to the health of athletes.
Gustavo Nascimento, director of venue management for the Rio Olympics, said in a news conference that the monitors did pick up the chlorine, but failed to notice that it was no longer working.
Nascimento says hydrogen peroxide may be to blame for the green coloring.
And he reiterated the earlier assurance that no athletes’ health had been compromised, saying: “There was never a health risk, a health worry or concern in any shape or form”.
According to the New York Times, someone mistakenly added 160 litres of hydrogen peroxide to the water. That neutralized the chlorine and reportedly allowed the growth of “organic compounds” that might have included algae.
Close to a week after the color changed, Andrada didn’t shy away from the problem, owning up to the mistakes he and his team made.
“It’s so green. But, we got a personal best score, so maybe we should ask for a green pool from now on”. Wednesday, after the water polo pool also turned green, Rio officials claimed they had figured out the issue and that the water would be back to its normal color by the end of the day. The diving pool, the first to turn green, is being filtered and treated to clean the waters.
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The Aug. 10 photo shows the water of the diving pool, right, and water polo pool, left.
