No, you cannot drink from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

The fact that this is a top search in America right now tells me everything I need to know about how this summer is going.

Somewhere out there — probably right now, probably sweating through a linen shirt they thought was a good idea — someone is standing at the edge of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, genuinely weighing their options. And I get it. I do. It’s DC in the summer. The heat index is something a weather app describes using words usually reserved for the surface of Venus. Your water bottle is empty. The pool is RIGHT THERE.

But no. No, you cannot drink from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. And the fact that we need to have this conversation — as a country, in the year that it currently is — is a lot to sit with.

So what exactly is in that pool?

The Reflecting Pool is 2,028 feet long, 167 feet wide, and holds about 6.75 million gallons of water. That sounds impressive until you find out it’s a recirculating decorative pool — meaning the same water goes around and around, treated with algaecides to keep it from turning into a solid block of green slime.

It is not connected to any drinking water system. It is not filtered the way your tap water is filtered. It is an outdoor pool that sits open to the DC sky, which means it collects whatever the sky, the birds, the tourists, and the general chaos of the National Mall decide to contribute to it.

Has anyone actually tried to drink from it?

Almost certainly yes — which is presumably why people are googling it. The internet does not generate top searches in a vacuum. Someone asked this question because someone was seriously considering it, and maybe a few someones already did it and are now having a terrible afternoon.

This is not me judging. This is me being genuinely concerned, the way I get concerned when I read about something that should be obvious but apparently isn’t.

Why is it so bad, specifically?

Beyond the algaecides — which are chemicals, full stop — you’ve got standing water that’s been sitting outside in summer heat. Heat accelerates bacterial growth. The pool has had documented problems with algae blooms over the years, which is exactly why they treat it so aggressively with chemicals in the first place.

The National Park Service does not list the Reflecting Pool as a water source. That should tell you something. When the government agency responsible for the thing doesn’t suggest drinking it, that’s usually a sign.

Okay but why is everyone googling this right now?

Because it’s summer and people are desperate and the American vacation experience has a way of breaking a person down to their most primal decision-making. You’ve walked eleven miles. You forgot to bring water. You’re in a city where a bottle of water at a cart costs four dollars and you already spent forty-seven dollars on a magnet you don’t need.

I understand the math your brain is doing. The pool looks clean-ish. It’s enormous. Nobody’s stopping you. Your throat feels like the inside of a paper bag.

But this is one of those moments — like in my post about the decisions we make when we’re running on empty — where you have to be the adult in your own life.

What should you actually do if you’re that thirsty in DC?

DC has water fountains. Real ones, with actual drinking water. The National Mall has them. Most of the Smithsonian museums — which are free, and air conditioned, I cannot stress the air conditioning enough — have water fountains inside.

You can also buy water basically everywhere. Yes it costs money. Yes that’s annoying. Yes it’s still better than drinking recirculating decorative pool water that’s been treated with algaecide and marinated in August heat.

There are also several CVS and Walgreens locations within reasonable distance of the Mall. A big bottle of water is maybe two dollars. This is the move.

Is this actually a health emergency if someone already drank it?

I’m not a doctor and I’m not going to pretend to be one — but ingesting water treated with algaecides, or water containing whatever bacteria has had time to grow in a warm outdoor pool, is not going to feel great. Gastrointestinal symptoms are the most likely outcome. If someone drank a significant amount and feels genuinely unwell, calling Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) is a real option and not an overreaction.

For the record — and I want to be clear here — this is not me being dramatic. It makes sense because the pool isn’t designed for human consumption in any way, and your body is going to have opinions about that.

The Lincoln Memorial is one of the most genuinely moving places in the country. I mean that. Standing there at night, looking down that Reflecting Pool toward the Washington Monument — it’s something. It’s worth the trip, worth the heat, worth the four-dollar water bottle from the cart.

Just drink the four-dollar water. Abraham Lincoln would have wanted that for you.

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