Rio diving pool—still green—now closed and smells like farts

[Bonx]

Source: ars technica

"Authorities have blamed everything from people to pH, but no end is in sight.

The outdoor Olympic diving pool, which turned a startling shade of green Tuesday, is now closed. It reportedly smells like farts and may be causing eye itchiness among athletes. Since Tuesday, Olympic organizers have repeatedly assured athletes and fans that the pool is safe and that the situation was under control. Rio organizing committee spokesman Mario Andrada told reporters on Wednesday that “the pool should go back to its classic blue color during the day.” That clearly didn’t happen. Instead, reports trickled in that the adjacent pool used for water polo and synchronized swimming also began to turn green."

Read more: http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/08/rio-diving-pool-still-green-now-closed-and-smells-like-farts/

[Hissyspit]

1. Can someone answer me this?

How is it, in this day and age, that chemical analysis has not progressed enough that we don't instantly know what is in WATER (as in, anything else besides H2O), not necessarily the cause of the contamination, but the exact chemical make-up?

[tymorial]

2. lol. Mass specs are expensive.

[brush]

3. They need to get a new pool guy.

Pools can go green overnight if the chemicals aren't balanced and the water isn't circulating.

It's not rocket science though, they just need to get someone who knows what they're doing to take care of the pool.

[AngryAmish]

14. Good luck finding that in Brazil.

[Hissyspit]

48. I've read now they are saying a contractor mistakenly put hydrogen peroxide in the water

and it reacted with the chlorine.

[IronLionZion]

55. yup, it neutralized the chlorine and allowed algae to flourish

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/14/sport/olympics-green-pool/

[CRF450]

56. As a certified swimming pool tech, I'm baffled how or why hyd/peroxide was used here

Maybe their pool guys just grabbed the wrong chemicals? I'm not even aware of any uses it may have a for a pool, probably none.

4 or 5 days a week I regularly deal with chemical treatment, and regular services to prevent pools from turning green. Number one way we know that a pool turns green is due to lack of chlorine, but other than how it happened with this olympic pool, there's other ways the water can lose chlorine. Two most common scenarios I see is the emergence of Phosphates, and the other, Chloramines. These two chemical issues will eat away the chlorine. To kill chloramines, the pool would have to be shocked till break point is reached. To remove Phosphates, a Phos Remover chemical would have to be used.

Of the regular clientele we deal with, I've only seen a couple cases of a green pool due to metal contaminants. Vast majority of them use city water which is already treated for the most part.

[Hoyt]

51. Exactly. Worked as a lifeguard a couple of summers, and arrived a few mornings with green water.

By 9:00, had it clear.

[snooper2]

57. One of there spokespeople said chemistry isn't an exact science- Not making this up

Google it LOL

[rusty quoin]

4. OMG. K&R. Doesn't that smell mean methane? That's not algae.

[jmowreader]

7. It means sulfur, not methane

Methane has no smell. Methane plus sulfur compounds called thiols smell like farts.

[bananas]

42. Earthquake precursor? nt

[Igel]

20. Methane's odorless.

The natural gas (methane) you get to your house has mercaptan in it so that you can smell gas leaks.

[nadine_mn]

5. Ok I hope no one gets sick, but farts! Oh that's too much

I am so immature, but I just picture a group of Olympic officials gathered around sniffing the air and saying "yup...definitely farts"

[C Moon]

6. :)

[BlancheSplanchnik]

9. It's so subjective, though.

And there are so many kinds of farts, you can't really generalize like that.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

17. Well, I never knew one that smelled like a rose!

I'm pretty sure a fart smells like a fart...differences and all.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

24. You can *never* be completely sure of anything...

[MicaelS]

30. Farts are like success..

Only your own smells sweet.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

46. ....

[BlancheSplanchnik]

47. Must have something to do with The Donald, who can't stop telling us what Yuuuuge success he is...

:

[GulfCoast66]

22. If this continues

I am thing there will be lots of popcorn farts

[awoke_in_2003]

43. The answer is blowing in the wind. nt

[CentralMass]

8. I suspect that the issue is high copper content in the water that is being oxidized by the chlorine.

I even emailed the Rio Olympics with this.
I have battled the issue when I had a pool in MA.

There are two methods to treat it, I used the method where a chelation chemical is added to the water .

http://www.poolwizard.net/problems/copper-iron.htm
"Where is the copper or iron from?
Copper or iron can find its way into the pool from the fill water. If a well is used, the source may contain these metals in their ionic states. Mains water, while usually well purified, may pick up the metals in the pipe/ plumbing network it passes before it reaches the pool (from rusty or very old piping).
The copper or iron may be the result of corrosion of the pool's pump, heater, pipework or other metal accessories. Nowadays pool water has very little, if any, contact with metal parts unless essential (e.g. pumps are plastic, while heat exchangers have to be metal, usually stainless steel). If the pool's pH is low or the total alkalinity is low or the calcium hardness level is low, then the water tends to be corrosive and the "rusting" of metal parts in the pool is greatly increased.
Another common source of copper is copper-based algaecides. The cheaper ones often supply copper ions rather than complexes and if too much is used, will result in lovely green pool water.
Copper or iron - how to tell
Testing the pool water will let you know what metal is in the water as well as how much. Copper almost always turns the water green and iron usually results in brown pool water. Iron can also be responsible for a green hue so it is not always possible to make a visual diagnosis.
Solve the colored water problem
To solve the problem of colored water as a result of metals, there are two general approaches:
Shock treat the pool to oxidize the metal, which then settles out of solution and looks like rust. The rust can easily be vacuumed out of the pool.
Add a sequestering or chelating agent which forms complexes with the metal and prevents it from being oxidized by the chlorine.
Prevent the problem recurring
If the source of the copper or iron cannot be established or if it cannot be avoided, regular addition of a chelating agent or sequestering agent (metal out products) will ensure that any new metal arriving in the pool water will be held in an inactive complex."

[PJMcK]

13. Wow, that's a lot of information!

You certainly know your swimming pool water chemistry, CentralMass. Thanks for sharing the details. It makes me glad I no longer have a pool!

[SCVDem]

28. Where have I heard this before?

Oh yeah, Flint. It still isn't fixed after years.

I wonder if they used much metal pipe at all.

Most pools would go with PVC piping. Especially if the budget is tight.

Flush the pool, refill and shock it. Then balance the chemicals.

Dive quickly!

I've heard the water 'feel' isn't right. Wouldn't that be more of a biological action?

[CentralMass]

34. Some cheaper algaecides contain copper and they makeep

Chlorine with a built in copper based algaecide. So ilif the are using any of the above, it could be a factor. This was part of the problem with my home pool.

[Enrique]

10. maybe it's St. Patrick's Day in Brazil

[AngryAmish]

15. Tell the plumber's union to quit it!

[NBachers]

11. Why can't they just pour some drums of blue paint into it?

[randome]

16. That sounds like something Trump would suggest!

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Meredith McIver approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[YOHABLO]

12. This is the Olympics folks, just shouldn't have happened. It's not the backyard pool. So Ridiculous.

[Loki Liesmith]

31. Almost every Olympics is papered-over clusterfuck.

[Bob Loblaw]

18. Has it been determined yet

by Fox whether it's Obama's fault or Hillary's?

[IronLionZion]

19. Why haven't they flown in an expert who knows how to deal with it?

It's gone on long enough.

[Igel]

21. Intended to show how wonderful Brazil is,

these games aren't exactly meeting expectations.

Athletes, good. Infrastructure ... uh ...

They shouldn't *need* to fly somebody in.

[roamer65]

33. Given the state of the Brazilian economy...

I am surprised the Games are running this well. I really thought they may have to move them on short notice to London or Los Angeles.

[Old Vet]

23. This issue is insane.........

Good Grief, This is the Olympics, Most poolboys with a decent Ph tester can solve this. (I was one during college breaks) As long as they have the needed chemicals.

[sarisataka]

25. Someone made a miscalculation

[liberal N proud]

26. The blue was all used on the track

[RKP5637]

50. ...

[Rex]

27. Okay I am just going to come out and say it - who has been shitting in the pool!?

Fess up!

[SCVDem]

29. It's a Baby Ruth! nt

[CentralMass]

35. A classic.

[RKP5637]

52. LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[roamer65]

32. All they hafta do is get it balanced for another week.

Then they can drain it, since it will go unused and fall into disrepair after the olympics end.

[IronLionZion]

36. They dumped hydrogen peroxide into the pool

which neutralized the chlorine and allowed algae to flourish. I don't have a link, it was on NBC just now on tv.

[Volaris]

40. oh for gods sakes. Is the Tea Party running the Rio Games?

cause thats about how damn stupid THAT was. If Brazil has H3, SOMEWHERE theres some HCl laying around to fix this problem.

This is a problem with a same-day solution.

[IronLionZion]

44. how quickly can they drain and refill a large pool?

Because if they could do that overnight, even that would be better. But it probably takes a while for the chemicals to mix to the correct levels.

What they really need are people who know what they are doing to monitor the levels and adjust as necessary, as a full-time job until the Olympics are over.

[yellowcanine]

37. "smells like farts." Did someone take a scientific measurement or is that just someone's opinion?

[Kaleva]

38. Professional fart smellers make pretty good money

"professional fart smeller is an actual job in China and you can make up to $50,000 a year."

http://www.thecrazyfacts.com/professional-fart-smeller-actual-job-china-can-make-50000-year/

[yellowcanine]

39. "Smells Like Farts" would be a great name for a punk rock band.

[Purveyor]

41. Hell our 125ft deep well water smells like farts and is the same

disgusting green but yet tests perfectly fine for consumption by the health department.

When I saw the first picture of the pool my first thought was, 'hell that looks just like our pool every spring when we have to add about 2ft of water'. Takes the filter about 2 goods days to clear it up.

We never drink the stuff straight from the well however as it is nasty tasting...

[dembotoz]

45. Do the pool guys also decorate football fields?

[IronLionZion]

49. They are going to drain and refill the water

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/14/sport/olympics-green-pool/index.html

for the water polo pool, not the diving pool. They'll bring water over from the warm up pool which is fine.

The diving pool got 80 liters of hydrogen peroxide on the opening day and that just ruined everything.

[scscholar]

53. 80 liters of hydrogen peroxide? Are they trying to send a rocket to space? (ntxt)

[bananakabob]

54. It smells like Trump?

Ew.