UPDATE: Green Olympic Pool Diagnosed, Drained

Draining the green pool.
Draining the green pool.

After much speculation in the pool industry and beyond, officials at the Rio Olympics have finally explained why the diving pool and water polo pool took a green turn: hydrogen peroxide.

RELATED: Rio's Olympic Diving Pool Turns Green Overnight

As the New York Times reports, someone added 160 liters of hydrogen peroxide on August 5, “neutralizing the chlorine and allowing the growth of ‘organic compounds’ that might have included algae.”

So much for that “heat and lack of wind” excuse they tried pushing earlier.

As a result of the green water, which athletes say hurts their eyes and makes it extra challenging to compete, the water polo pool was drained and replaced with water from a practice pool. (According to the Independent, only the water polo pool was drained because it was required for competition immediately. The diving pool was not drained.)

The pool holds 3,725,000 liters of water. All told, the drain and swap took 11 hours to complete.

As the green pool ordeal unfolded last week, Rio spokesman Mario Andrada repeatedly offered different excuses for the water’s condition (from heat/lack of wind to low alkalinity and a lack of chemicals) as well as guarantees that the pool would quickly return to balance — promises which, clearly, were a bit hastily offered.

“Of course it’s an embarrassment,” he said to the New York Times. “We are hosting the Olympic Games, and athletes are here, so water is going to be an issue. We should have been better in fixing it quickly. We learned painful lessons the hard way.”

The pool industry has been captivated by the story, largely for the fumbles along the way. As one commenter wrote on our first story covering the green pool fiasco: “This could have been prevented, doesn't matter the age of the equipment or the weather.”

While the diving pool is green no more, there’s a "clear" lesson to be found: If you’re hosting a big event that involves swimming pools, like, say, the Olympics...you may want to have an experienced pro around to make sure everything goes smoothly.

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