Rio officials are going to drain the green water in the diving pool

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rio green diving pool

Rob Carr/Getty

Rio officials are draining the green Olympic diving pool, perhaps bringing an end to the biggest, oddest mystery of the games.

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The water in the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center mysteriously turned green earlier in the week, and despite promises from officials to return it to blue, the situation has remained unsolved.

It came to a head Friday morning when the pool was closed as the officials tried to treat the water. One diver famously said the pool smelled "like a fart."

According to the Associated Press, officials had to turn to a drastic measure on Saturday, finally draining the pool. Games spokesman Mario Andrada said on Saturday that "radical measures are taking place and one of those radical measures is to replace a big part of the water."

Andrada said the pool will be re-filled in between the women's individual 3m springboard semifinals at 3pm and the finals on Sunday at 3pm.

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According to NBC, hydrogen peroxide was mistakenly put in the pool, which neutralized the chlorine, thus allowing algae to grow. However, earlier this week, experts previously disputed the idea that the water was green because of algae.

Officials have insisted that the water was safe to swim in, and thus far, other than a few swimmers saying their eyes itched, there haven't been issues.

NOW WATCH: Here's why the Olympic diving pool turned green