U.S. Los Angeles Reservoir Covered With 96 Million Shade Balls to Conserve Water Amidst Drought

[unhappycamper]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/los-angeles-reservoir-covered-96-million-shade-balls/story?id=33038319



Plastic balls that provide shade to the water and prevent evaporation in the Los Angeles Reservoir were released on Aug. 10, 2015.

U.S. Los Angeles Reservoir Covered With 96 Million Shade Balls to Conserve Water Amidst Drought
Aug 12, 2015, 11:47 AM ET
By KAYLEE HECK

The Los Angeles Reservoir looks like a giant ball pit.

The city poured 96 million, black, four-inch plastic balls over the surface of its 175-acre reservoir earlier this week - the first city in the country to use shade balls to preserve its water sources, officials said.

On his cue of “balls away,” Mayor Eric Garcetti released the final 20,000 shade balls into the reservoir on Monday in the city’s effort to conserve water and maintain the reservoir’s water quality.

“By reducing evaporation, these shade balls will conserve 300 million gallons of water each year,” Garcetti told ABC station KABC. “Instead of just evaporating into the sky, that’s 300 million gallons to fight this drought.”



Plastic balls that provide shade to the water and prevent evaporation in the Los Angeles Reservoir were released on Aug. 10, 2015.

[enough]

1. Have to wonder about the heating effect of all this black plastic. (nt)

[unhappycamper]

2. That was my first thought also. n/t

[Gman]

3. Mine too

And no light reaching into the water

[Abnredleg]

6. No light is good for water quality

California has been using shade balls for several years to improve water quality. The problem is bromide, which naturally occurs in groundwater, and chlorine, which is added to the treated water, react to create bromate (a suspected carcinogen) when exposed to sunlight. Shade balls stop this reaction.

[enough]

10. Thanks for that info, and welcome to DU. (nt)

[PearliePoo2]

4. I immediately assumed they would be white in color.

I'll read the article and see if there's more info.

[phantom power]

7. it might be black for better UV resistance

[Sienna86]

5. Should the balls be white/light color to reflect sunlight?

Odd.

[pscot]

8. Odd

[MisterP]

9. I think the air in them separates hot and cold halves--but OTOH ...