Why is the Rio 2016 Olympic swimming pool changing color after a night?

Algae blooms, copper oxidation or problem water filters are speculative reasons given by experts to explain temporarily this strange phenomenon.

On Monday (8/8) the water in the pool was still transparent blue, but the swimmers with the pool schedule the next day (August 9) discovered that the pool was turning dark blue and green after only one night. What's even more strange is that the adjacent pool remains the same blue as before. This stunned athletes and fans and no one could explain why this strange phenomenon was present.

It seems that only the contestants are not too concerned with the phenomenon and everyone cannot ignore this strange change."When we practice in this pool, the water is always blue. But we are always prepared for unexpected situations , " China's swimmer Liu Huixia - who just won The gold medal tells the press.

"The water is really green, I don't understand why. However, we have achieved the best in this pool so maybe later we will ask the water to always be green like that. I like this color, "said" funny " Jessica Parratto, a humorous American. And of course some athletes find it difficult to understand because of this. "Someone is playing pranks on us or do we plan to celebrate St. Patrick's Day early here?" , David Boudia, the swimmer who won the silver medal on the second night at the pool, before the water turned green.

The water in the pool in Rio suddenly turns green after a night.(Photo: Tom Daley).

Meanwhile the Rio Olympic Organizing Committee confirmed to the public that this green water color does not pose any harm to athletes when they compete. But they also cannot explain why water changes color. "To ensure the pool is eligible for the next tournament, this Maria Lenk Aquatics Center pool has been tested and has not shown any signs of harm to athletes' health. We are investigating the cause of this phenomenon, " said the organizers of the contest.

The public has not heard the official answer, but experts say there are several possible causes for this change . "Perhaps the water purifier has a problem or water quality is not guaranteed. It does not pose a danger to the athletes but this is a bad image at the Olympics," the FINA director told Reuter.

It is unclear how long the water will return to normal as long as the color is gone. If the water purifier is not working well or the pool is not chlorine-rich, algae can multiply in the water to change the water to a dark green as everyone has seen."The flowering of algae depends on how much chlorine changes in the water. This can be avoided by dramatically increasing the chlorine content all night to kill algae. But if so, there should be some transport. encouragement to die , " explained Gizmodo Darren Orf.

Another possible cause of this phenomenon is copper oxidation , as you see bronze statues placed outside turning dark blue after a long time of contact with water, but the question is raised. How does copper come into this pool?

Rio's organizers said they would explain why the water turned green as soon as they had the opportunity to investigate it thoroughly. And until this incident is investigated we will not have a satisfactory explanation. But this is definitely a bad image for this Olympics and the organizers have been criticized for failing to ensure the quality and safety of water in the outdoor pool and the public thinks that perhaps its water The pools inside are not really guaranteed.