Millions Of 'Shade Balls' Protect LA's Water During Drought

[zorgon]

Millions Of 'Shade Balls' Protect LA's Water During Drought

Okay so... California "Scientists"  have come up with a new brainstorm to stop water evaporation in the reservoirs

Fill them with black plastic spheres!!!

So I guess this means no more recreational boating, no fishing and no more wild life.

Los Angeles can't make it rain, but it can shield its precious water with "shade balls" -- 96 million of them to be exact.

For months, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has been releasing the black plastic balls to float on the surface of the 175-acre Los Angeles Reservoir in a massive drought relief project. The final 20,000 went in on Monday, with some assistance from LA Mayor Eric Garcetti.

By deflecting UV rays, the opaque spheres are expected to protect more than 300 million gallons of water from evaporating in Southern California's harsh sunlight every year.

LADWP was the first utility company to use this technology to protect water, according to a press release from Garcetti.

"In the midst of California's historic drought, it takes bold ingenuity to maximize my goals for water conservation," the mayor said. "This effort by LADWP is emblematic of the kind of creative thinking we need to meet those challenges."

Besides slowing evaporation, the shade balls prevent sunlight from triggering a dangerous reaction between bromite, a chemical occurring naturally in groundwater, and the chlorine used to disinfect the water. When sunlight interacts with those two chemicals, Plastic News explains, the suspected carcinogen bromate is formed.

The shade balls also deter wildlife from contaminating the reservoir, shield the water from wind-blow dust and discourage algae from forming on the water's surface.

City officials hailed the shade balls as very cost-effective. They run just 36 cents a piece, The Guardian noted, and require no additional construction or maintenance -- except to be rotated occasionally.

"Shade balls are a great example of how engineering meets common sense," LADWP general manager Marcie Edwards said in Garcetti's press release. "... As we make updates, we are mindful to be wise and practical with our investments. Shade balls are an affordable and effective way to comply with regulations, and help us continue to deliver the best drinking water to our customers."

Well its already a done deal  so bye bye fish and wildlife



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/los-angeles-reservoir-shade-balls_55ca5a1ce4b0923c12be743d

[burntheships]

Millions Of 'Shade Balls' Protect LA's Water During Drought

So I guess this means no more recreational boating, no fishing and no more wild life.

And...have they tested these for BPA? Oh yech! If the water quality was
bad before, imagine this chemical leach into the water supply now.

I would hope they try and have at least some food/water safe rating?

[Dyna]

I think this is a wonderful idea, they should do this with drinking water all reservoirs,stop the evaporation! Looks fun putting them out there, I don't know if this video is insertable?

There are now 96 million "shade balls" floating on the surface of the LA Reservoir. They're made of plastic, the same kind of polyethylene that gallon-sized milk jugs are made of, so they don't pose a threat to the drinking water, according to the LA Times. They're designed to keep water from evaporating and are expected to conserve 300 million gallons per year. And at a cost of $35 million, they're about $250 million cheaper than the alternative, a tarp-like covering.

[thorfourwinds]

Great idea!

Let's add PCB balls to what little water there is in LA... wonder if they leach out carcinogens as does the fluoride in bottled water bottles?

Question: How come they are not white - to better reflect the sun's rays/heat?

[Dyna]

Great idea!

Let's add PCB balls to what little water there is in LA... wonder if they leach out carcinogens as does the fluoride in bottled water bottles?

Question: How come they are not white - to better reflect the sun's rays/heat?

I was just thinking I wonder why not white or silver. Heating the water may be a bad thing.

[zorgon]

Easy to miss   Tpoics merged

Now consider THIS

If they do this to all the reservoirs..

What happens to the water fowl that depend on the lakes?
What happens to the Fish that live in the reservoirs when the sun is blocked?

The heat generated by black balls will increase water temp and cause algae grow  This depletes the oxygen in the water allowing Anaerobic Bacteria to grow...



Now in India  a poor third world country, they are putting SOLAR PANELS over the water canals and reservoirs. These block sun from evaporating the water AND produce solar power

A solar canal rises in India



India is testing out an idea that marries solar panels with irrigation canals.

A 1 MW project has been built over nearly half a mile of the Narmada Canal in the state of Gujarat in India, and it will not only produce electricity but also conserve land and water, the state government said Monday. The project is meant to show an efficient use of land in an agricultural region by putting solar panels over a waterway rather than over fertile ground. It also should reduce evaporation of the canal water by an estimated 237,750 gallons of water each year, the state government said.


The Gujarat State Electricity Corp. developed the project and hired U.S.-based SunEdison to build it. The state government plans to inaugurate the project in the Mehsana district on Tuesday.

The idea of putting solar panels over water to save land and water isn't new, but it's not widely deployed either. A New York Times story last year outlined several projects – including two at California vineyards – that have done so by installing solar panels over ponds. The story also talked about the idea of covering the California Aqueduct with solar panels, but an official from the state agency overseeing the aqueduct expressed concerns over the stability of solar panels and the ability of repair workers to fix leaks and other problems at the 400-mile canal if they have to contend with massive structures of solar panels and their mounting systems.


Gujarat has been busy with solar power project development over the past few years. The state, which encourages solar energy installation by guaranteeing premium prices for the solar electricity, boasts at least 600 MW of solar and 2,580 MW of wind energy generation, which makes it one of the largest renewable energy producing state in the country.

The state celebrated reaching that achievement last week. With that much solar and wind developed, Gujarat officials said they had achieved their renewable energy purchase goal. It's unclear whether that means renewable energy project development will slow down – I posed this question to Gujarat officials last week and will update the post when I get an answer.

The 1 MW project only covers a small section of the canal, whose main waterway runs nearly 285 miles. If you add all the side channels, then the overall length is about 11,806 miles. So there is still plenty of space to put more solar panels over them.

Photo courtesy of the Gujarat government

https://gigaom.com/2012/04/23/a-solar-canal-rises-in-india/

[Senduko]

Say, can someone explain me why they are using black balls?
Wouldn't white balls make more sense?

[burntheships]

Agree with Thor and Senduko, why black?

Milk jugs are translucent, how do they go from that to black,
and it sure does seem that white would be better to reflect
heat away, if this even works in the long run.

Z's comments about wildlife are really important, what
of the fish, frogs, fowl, turtles etc? They are just black balled?



What about the wildlife that needs a drink at night?

[ArMaP]

Okay so... California "Scientists"  have come up with a new brainstorm to stop water evaporation in the reservoirs

Apparently, it's not that new, as they have been using that method since 2008 in other reservoirs.

So I guess this means no more recreational boating, no fishing and no more wild life.

Did they have any of that in that reservoir?

Well its already a done deal  so bye bye fish and wildlife

Did they have any in that reservoir?

[ArMaP]

And...have they tested these for BPA? Oh yech! If the water quality was
bad before, imagine this chemical leach into the water supply now.

I would hope they try and have at least some food/water safe rating?

Apparently, they are BPA free and certified for contact with drinking water.

[ArMaP]

Question: How come they are not white - to better reflect the sun's rays/heat?

Apparently, that colour is UV resistant and prevents the production of algae and bromate.

PS: all the information I posted in this and previous posts is available on several sites but more easily seen in this page.

[Dyna]

Thanks for the combine I had never seen nor heard of these before.

I was thinking only of these man made concrete or other such reservoirs. we have one near it is fenced with a large fence to protect the water supply.

I think they need to be protected and in hot areas the loss to evaporation must be huge. People make ponds to catch rainwater and the water does not last out the summer for the irrigation they are doing, keeping areas green which is a plus for wildlife where you can see geese land and animals take advantage of it. With these in place I bet the water would last the summer.

I would be interested to see if any creatures still drink from the water since the balls are not stationary it would leave it more open then tarps.

[zorgon]

Agree with Thor and Senduko, why black?

I HATE to say "I TOLD YOU SO!"

Well actually... no I don't 

How the 100 million 'shade balls' brought in to protect LA's reservoir from evaporating are in fact a 'bacterial nightmare'

Water quality expert tells Daily Mail Online balls create 'thermal blanket'
This gives the hot water much more surface area to create bacteria
And black is 'the worst color they could have picked' as it retains heat
96 million plastic black spheres, costing $34.5m, were dropped last week

It was billed as an innovative solution to four years of record-breaking drought.
But it seems the 96 million 'shade balls' that California officials released on to the Los Angeles Reservoir to stop evaporation may cause even more problems.
According to hydrologists, the black plastic spheres could simply fuel the amount of bacteria in the water, ultimately heading to taps and showers in people's homes.
'The black spheres form a thermal blanket which provides new surface area to breed bacteria,' Soni Pradhanang, a professor of Water Quality at the University of Rhode Island told Daily Mail Online.

Hydrologists warn the Los Angeles water supply may be filled with bacteria thanks to a 'thermal blanket' created by the 'shade balls'. The 96 million balls, costing $34.5 million, were dropped on the reservoir last week

'There's a lot of heat and a lot of surface area which means a lot of bacteria.'
The benefits are clear, Professor Pradhanang insists, as Los Angeles strives to retain as much water as possible amid the drought. Like other urban cities, such as New York, they also face a constant battle to keep wildlife off the clean water reservoirs, as their feces is the real source of bacteria.
And, though the truck-load of balls cost $34.5 million, it is easily a much cheaper alternative to covering the site in tarps.
But any color would have been better than black.
'As we know, black absorbs heat. So that will help the thermal blanket,' remarks Professor Pradhanang. 'The key is to keep these balls clean - but that will be a monumental task.'
The balls work by floating on the surface and blocking the sun's rays.
As well as protecting against evaporation, they also prevent the chemical reaction that creates the carcinogenic compound bromate.
For most people, exposure to bromate - created from naturally-occurring bromide in water -is unlikely to be cause problems.

Z's comments about wildlife are really important, what
of the fish, frogs, fowl, turtles etc? They are just black balled?
What about the wildlife that needs a drink at night?

Well so far I think they have only done this in ONE reservoir so likely this will stop

But it seems California considers wildlife as "contaminants "

The balls also form a protective barrier across the surface that helps keep birds, animals and other contaminants out.

Dr Brian White, a now-retired Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP biologist), was the first person to think of using shade balls for water quality.

I am not really sure how floating balls keep a 'cover' on things that keep other contaminants out. Dust and dirt blown in would just fall between the balls

Funny what passes as 'experts' these days

[Sinny]

I'm no expert but... What a stupid method of 'protecting' the water haha

[burntheships]

Funny what passes as 'experts' these days

34 million, chump change for California I suppose.

The day these "experts" have to pay for the mistakes
would be the day they stop the game.

And I do think it is just a game for most of them.