1/13/2024 0 Comments Shade balls![]() The use of shade balls in Los Angeles was the brainchild of a now-retired biologist for LADWP, Brian White, who saw similar balls used to keep birds out of bodies of water near airports. From the section of the XavierC site on how they work. We revisit the idea of using shade balls in the Los Angeles reservoir to reduce evaporation during the recent drought in California, and question its sustainability by revealing the water footprint of this technologic water conservation solution. ![]() Officials say that the balls are safe to have in the drinking water supply and will not leach chemicals into the reservoirs. This piece in Bloomberg News is about Sydney Chase, the founder of XavierC, the company which makes the 'shade balls' in question (there are two other suppliers, Orange Products, Inc. However, past evidence shows that such fixes might be associated with unintended consequences. According to the video my son showed me, the life of the balls is about 10 years. Since the beginning of their deployment in 2008, the shade balls saved an estimated 1.15 million cubic meters of water, while an estimated 2.9 million cubic meters were used in production. Prevented from blowing away by a small amount of water inside, the four-inch shade balls have a lifespan of approximately 10 years, after which they can be scooped up and recycled. They emerged from obscurity this week on the internet with all the markings of Buzzphrase of the Year. According to the study, shade balls don’t save water. ![]() He added: “While it’s meeting the minimum standards, we want to go beyond that and have the healthiest water so we’ve been spreading these balls everywhere.” Mayor Eric Garcetti says the balls will conserve 300 million gallons of water that would otherwise evaporate every year. Whilstthis may sound like a lot of money to turn LAs largest reservoirinto a massive watery ball pit. Other solutions included splitting the reservoir and installing floating covers that would have cost $300 million. Each shade balls costs36 cents, with the entire project amounting to US34.5 million. General manager Marcie Edwards says the project is “a blend of how engineering really meets common sense.”
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