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Why Are 96,000,000 Black Balls on This Reservoir?
YouTube ^ | May 10, 2019 | Veritasium

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 ...


TOPICS: Agriculture; Sports; Travel; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: blackballed; bromate; bromide; bromine; california; chlorine; drought; forgetitjake; hdpe; losangeles; ozone; water; watertreatment
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Why Are 96,000,000 Black Balls on This Reservoir? | Veritasium | Published on May 10, 2019 | Researched and Produced by Casey Rentz

Why Are 96,000,000 Black Balls on This Reservoir? | Veritasium | Published on May 10, 2019 | Researched and Produced by Casey Rentz

1 posted on 05/11/2019 10:00:14 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
Watched this a few minutes ago, before getting out of bed. :^) Seems like a great idea for Lake Nasser.

2 posted on 05/11/2019 10:01:51 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Makes water skiing tough though.
Fishing would be just weird.
Easier to hide bodies though.


3 posted on 05/11/2019 10:07:04 AM PDT by redshawk (0pansy is a Liar and Hates.........he just hates!)
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To: redshawk
Easier to hide bodies though.

Hmm...where's this reservoir again? Asking for a friend.

4 posted on 05/11/2019 10:11:32 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: SunkenCiv

More evidence why all plastic must be banned on the planet!!


5 posted on 05/11/2019 10:12:27 AM PDT by kaehurowing
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Racist!

(Just ask John Wiley Price.)


6 posted on 05/11/2019 10:12:37 AM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
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To: Olog-hai

It pisses me off that Dwaine Caraway is in jail and Price is not.


7 posted on 05/11/2019 10:13:46 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Why are there four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire?


8 posted on 05/11/2019 10:14:59 AM PDT by Eddie01
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To: kaehurowing

Nope,it’s evidence that stupid people who do things like this clearly lack adult supervision.


9 posted on 05/11/2019 10:16:38 AM PDT by Farmer Dean (168 grains of instant conflict resolution)
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To: SunkenCiv

What happens when they wind up in the Pacific Ocean?


10 posted on 05/11/2019 10:17:50 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: SunkenCiv

The sun is poisoning the water! The sun is poisoning the water!

I call for a meeting of all scientists and baseball managers to discuss this and find an immediate solution!

Right off the top of my head, I’m thinking maybe a big blackout curtain.


11 posted on 05/11/2019 10:17:53 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: SunkenCiv

Does it help lower the evaporation rate, i think it would be good for that also.


12 posted on 05/11/2019 10:18:22 AM PDT by Jolla
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To: SunkenCiv

For some reason a 48 million man march came to mind......


13 posted on 05/11/2019 10:19:28 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (uizzzp)
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To: SunkenCiv

Huell Howser did one of his California Gold Shows about this years ago.


14 posted on 05/11/2019 10:19:59 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
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To: Jolla

Watch the video. For a change, this one is very informative and science based. Kinda funny too along the way.


15 posted on 05/11/2019 10:22:22 AM PDT by Sa-teef
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To: SunkenCiv

Yet another reason to avoid Los Angeles water.

I can taste the plastic in PEX waterlines, so I am pretty sure I would taste the plastic from these things.

Not enough nopes in all of Nopeland!


16 posted on 05/11/2019 10:26:35 AM PDT by Don W (When blacks riot, neighbourhoods and cities burn. When whites riot, nations and continents burn.)
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To: Farmer Dean

It’s a result of the environazi delusion that the ability
to detect something equals the ability to prevent it.


17 posted on 05/11/2019 10:27:03 AM PDT by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: Jolla
Oddly enough, it does. When I saw the vid title pane, I wondered why the balls weren't white, turns out there are two reasons, reduced evaporation apparently wasn't a consideration, just a bonus.

18 posted on 05/11/2019 10:29:41 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Eddie01
I wonder how many it would take to fill the Albert Hall?

19 posted on 05/11/2019 10:30:31 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Kickass Conservative
Since this just happened, did Huell have a time machine?

20 posted on 05/11/2019 10:31:12 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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