Posted on 05/11/2019 10:00:14 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
I took a boat through 96 million black plastic balls on the Los Angeles reservoir to find out why they're there. The first time I heard about shade balls the claim was they reduce evaporation. But it turns out this isn't the reason they were introduced.
Huge thanks to LADWP for arranging this special tour for me. Next time let's put the GoPro on the submersible!
The balls are made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) which is less dense than water so they float on the surface of the reservoir even if they break apart. They are 10cm (4 inches) in diameter and contain about 210ml of water. So the main reason they are on the reservoir is to block sunlight from entering the water and triggering a chemical reaction that turns harmless bromide into carcinogenic bromate. This effect occurs with prolonged exposure to bromate so regulators insist that levels be kept below 10 microgram per liter on average over a 12 month period.
Special thanks to Patreon supporters:
Donal Botkin, Michael Krugman, Ron Neal, Stan Presolski, Terrance Shepherd, Penward Rhyme and everyone who provided feedback on an early draft of this video.
Thanks to:
Las Virgenes Reservoir for footage of initial shade ball dump
Euro-Matic for bird into jet-engine footage
Researched and Produced by Casey Rentz
Animations by Maria Raykova
Music from http://epidemicsound.com "Colorful Animation 4" "Seaweed"
And from Kevin MacLeod "Marty Gots a Plan"
This is an educational video about the science of water quality.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Somewhere on the other side of the universe there’s a lake with 96,000,000 white balls.
Hmm...where’s this reservoir again? Asking for a friend.
—
Sorry man, I called dibs first.
LOL
“that turns harmless bromide into carcinogenic bromate”
Where does the bromide in the water come from?
Bromides creates protein coupling thereby improving water quality.Depleting sunlight has a wide range of effects. Reducing algae is primary among them. Algae reduction increases nitrates and reduces nutrition for fish.
By increasing toxicity and reducing nutrition secondary pathogens proliferate. Biomass kills are the inevitable result.
Reducing surface exposure has the added effect of reducing CO2 / O2 exchange, creating a dead zone. In Gulf areas this is magnified by highly toxic red tide.
This is a perfect example of bureaucratic problem solving. By solving one problem their fix creates a dozen more, creating more opportunity for bureaucratic meddling.
I don’t know about the Albert hall,
but it would take 3,012 to fill the
Apollo theater in Harlem, assuming
two per patron.
Black plastic balls are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Buttgiggity’s nipples just exploded.
is this a case of black supremacy? Black entitlement? Why no fuchsia?
The water isn't for fish, it's for drinking water. The algae reduction also means a reduction in the use of chlorine (for that matter, reduced sunlight means reduced chlorinie loss).
Carbon black is what the manufacturer uses.
It's in the water to start with, gets there from contact with various stone.
When will they name it Lake Kardashian? ;^)
They are black.
Black absorbs heat from sunlight.
They are cooking the surface of the water.
“Why Are 96,000,000 Black Balls on This Reservoir?”
Because having 96,000,000 White Balls would be racist?
Has anyone calculated how many degrees this surface raises the temp of the water?
Amusingly, according to the topic video linked above, blue was considered, meaning they could have wound up blue-balling the reservoir.
The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District dumped nearly 1 million plastic balls into its Calabasas recycled water reservoir. The 4-inch plastic balls cover the surface, helping to protect the water and prevent evaporation during the drought. Courtesy of LVMWD. | Shade balls dropped into water reservoir | Acorn Newspapers | Published on Aug 14, 2015
LVMWD’s Las Virgenes Reservoir
https://www.lvmwd.com/education/the-journey-your-water-takes/lvmwd-s-las-virgenes-reservoir
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