Olympic officials think they have the green pool water figured out - but there's a lingering doubt
However, after a day's worth of tests and examinations, officials think they have it figured out, according to Reuters.
International swimming federation FINA got involved and determined the change was a result of a chemical imbalance. They said in a statement that "the water tanks ran out some of the chemicals used in the water treatment process" thus changing the pH levels and the color.
Olympic spokesman Mario Andrada added that the water was tested regularly and determined to not be a risk to athletes.
However, there appears to be a lingering doubt that the situation is figured out. Mitch Geller, the chief technical officer for Canada's diving team, said they brought in an independent pool expert to examine the water. While it seems fine, Geller is still wary, offering an eyebrow-raising comment (emphasis ours):
"He arrived this morning from Canada, he's assisting with the hosting group to try to get it back under control. We don't think it is dangerous or we wouldn't have our athletes in the water. But we are going to monitor to see if anyone is getting red eyes here, if their ears start hurting, we'll be dumping a whole lot of antibiotics into them."
That doesn't quite sound like someone who is positive that the water is safe.
Still, officials said the water will return to its normal blue color by Wednesday night. Thus far, divers who swam in the water haven't seemed to complain about any after effects, but it's worth watching in light of Geller's comments. And if the water hasn't returned to normal by officials' projected timeline, then things really may get interesting.