--- title: Rio Olympics Green Pools: Here's Why They Turned Green description: Rio officials have finally said why two Olympic pools for diving, water polo and synchronized swimming turned from blue to green canonical: https://time.com/4451484/why-rio-olympic-pools-turned-green-hydrogen-peroxide/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-13T22:45:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:58:07.960Z article:section: Sports og:title: Finally, Here's the Reason The Olympic Pools Turned Green og:description: Rio officials have finally said why two Olympic pools suddenly changed color og:url: https://time.com/4451484/why-rio-olympic-pools-turned-green-hydrogen-peroxide/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b0a7de07ffff1b7/6988a1e3fb4eac1b6588eb31/olympics-water-polo-green.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: DIVING-OLY-2016-RIO og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Finally, Here's the Reason The Olympic Pools Turned Green twitter:description: Rio officials have finally said why two Olympic pools suddenly changed color twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b0a7de07ffff1b7/6988a1e3fb4eac1b6588eb31/olympics-water-polo-green.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # We Now Know Why Two Rio Olympics Pools Turned Green > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Aug 13, 2016 10:45 PM UTC  A picture taken on August 10, 2016 at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro shows the Water Polo (L) pool and the diving pool of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. A picture taken on August 10, 2016 at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro shows the Water Polo (L) pool and the diving pool of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.Christophe Simon—AFP/Getty Images  by [Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Aug 13, 2016 10:45 PM UTC It was the contractor’s fault. After offering little clarity about why the water in [two](http://time.com/4447081/rio-olympics-pool-green/?iid=sr-link4) Olympic competition pools [mysteriously turned green](http://time.com/4445598/rio-2016-olympics-green-water-diving-pool/?iid=sr-link2) this week, [Rio 2016](http://time.com/topic/2016-rio-olympics/) officials said Saturday it was because a a contractor poured hydrogen peroxide into the diving well and the large pool in the center last week. The chemical reacted with the chlorine and turned the water an emerald green and increasingly murky. Officials [initially blamed](http://time.com/4451260/rio-2016-olympics-green-pools-chemistry/?iid=sr-link1) the color on sunlight and lack of wind in the open-air aquatic center, which is used for diving, synchronized swimming and water polo. Hydrogen peroxide is a de-chlorinating agent, which means it undoes what chlorine is supposed to do — kill germs and keep water clear. That could explain the murkiness that resulted, and, as the days went by, only got worse. Rio officials maintained that the water was [not a health hazard to athletes](http://time.com/4447081/rio-olympics-pool-green/?iid=sr-link4), and training sessions and competitions continued in the green pools. But on Saturday, the pools were drained so the increasingly swampy water could be replaced with fresh water in time for synchronized swimming, which requires competitors and judges to have good visibility underwater. The process will take six hours, according to the AP, and another four hours to fill the pool, which will hopefully be ready for athletes by Sunday morning. “Of course it is an embarrassment because we are hosting the [Olympic Games](http://time.com/topic/2016-rio-olympics/),” Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada told the AP. “It should be light blue, transparent. We could have done better in fixing it quickly. We learned a painful lesson the hard way.” That seems to be the theme for the operations snafus at these Games. On Friday, three swimmers competing at the Olympic Aquatics Center were driven to the Olympic Stadium instead, 40 minutes away, forcing officials to change the order of events to give the athletes time to return to the pool and warm up. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4451484/why-rio-olympic-pools-turned-green-hydrogen-peroxide/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4451484/why-rio-olympic-pools-turned-green-hydrogen-peroxide/"},"headline":"We Now Know Why Two Rio Olympics Pools Turned Green","datePublished":"2016-08-13T22:45:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:58:07.960Z","description":"Rio officials have finally said why two pools used for diving, water polo and synchronized suddenly changed color","url":"https://time.com/4451484/why-rio-olympic-pools-turned-green-hydrogen-peroxide/","keywords":["olympics","swimming","Summer Olympics","diving","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b0a7de07ffff1b7/6988a1e3fb4eac1b6588eb31/olympics-water-polo-green.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b0a7de07ffff1b7/6988a1e3fb4eac1b6588eb31/olympics-water-polo-green.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DIVING-OLY-2016-RIO","caption":"DIVING-OLY-2016-RIO","creditText":"Christophe Simon—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4451484/why-rio-olympic-pools-turned-green-hydrogen-peroxide/","name":"We Now Know Why Two Rio Olympics Pools Turned Green"}}]}] ```