LA 'black ball' reservoir rollout potential 'disaster' in the making, say experts

Fox News ^ | August 19, 2015 | Hollie McKay

[Leaning Right]

LA's scheme to cover a reservoir under 96 million "shade balls" may not be all it is touted to be, experts told FoxNews.com, with some critics going so far as to refer to the plan as a "potential disaster."

*snip*

"Black spheres resting in the hot sun will form a thermal blanket speeding evaporation as well as providing a huge amount of new surface area for the hot water to breed bacteria," said Matt MacLeod, founder of the California biotech firm Modern Moon Farms. "Disaster. It’s going to be a bacterial nightmare.”

[Leaning Right]

I'm shocked, shocked to find that a milliion-dollar government program has actually made things worse.

[Red Badger]

I said so when it first was done.............

[bigmak007]

Black balls matter

[TribalPrincess2U]

The are experts at waste and cost to taxpayers.

[umgud]

Sounds racist too.

[cripplecreek]

I’m just surprised they aren’t using the rising water temp as evidence of global warming.

This is basic stuff.

[GeronL]

bacteria and plastic

yum yum

[Da Coyote]

Poor science, poorly executed.

I smell liberals.

[virgil]

Thing is, liberals think they’re so smart. They won’t consider that their ideas may be bad, even when the bad results are right in front of everybody to see.

[Smokin' Joe]

Um...This was discussed on this website. We saw this coming. Maybe they should have ‘floated’ the idea here before they dumped their balls.

[Steely Tom]

They won’t consider that their ideas may be bad, even when the bad results are right in front of everybody to see.

When that happens they just redefine "bad results" as "a huge success" and go off to congratulate themselves on how smart they are.

[Kickass Conservative]

They did this years ago in L.A.

I watched a Huell Howser California Gold Episode from years ago when the DWP started the Program.

I would assume they would have figured out if it was problematic by now.

[R_Kangel]

..... Immediately after I first saw this stupid idea on the news ... I said out loud to my lady ....... "Black? ........ BLACK? ..... Are they CRAZY? .... ARE THEY INSANE? ... Heck ... I'm no expert ... but in a hot desert environment ..... isn't BLACK .... the worst color to use for those F#@*&n BALLS .... Shouldn't they be white to reflect the suns rays"

.... The lady agreed.

.... Yup .... In any case it definitely appears that Governor Brown has a Black Balls problem .....

[patriot08]

Now that was funny, dude.

[Leaning Right]

I said so when it first was done.............

I wonder if they actually consulted any biologists first.

The project cost 34.5 million dollars. It would be interesting to find out exactly where that money went.

[Norm Lenhart]

And the chemicals released into drinking water as the sun quickly breaks that plastic down. I’m in AZ. Trust me on this.

What this is, is an Agenda 21 move to help population reduction efforts.

[Norm Lenhart]

Well they don’t bathe often so that’s not really a superpower you got there... ;)

[Pontiac]

Any color covering will help stop wind-driven evaporation,

Color may not matter but I kind of doubt that these balls will have much effect on wind-driven evaporation.

It won’t take much wind to drive these balls to one end of the reservoir. A relatively strong wind will simply pile them up against the shore and evaporation will simply go on as usual.

[cripplecreek]

I have some black rubber mats I throw down on the sidewalk to melt ice during the winter on sunny days.

It doesn’t take a PhD to figure this one out.

[ChildOfThe60s]

The problem is that they aren’t using a sufficient number of balls. They need to double the number.