Los Angeles Reservoir's 'shade balls' are a 'bacterial nightmare' | Daily Mail Online
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
By
MIA DE GRAAF FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 09:44 EST, 20 August 2015 | UPDATED: 16:14 EST, 22 August 2015
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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.
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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
HOW DO THE SHADE BALLS WORK?
The plastic black balls, around the size of an apple, cost 36 cents each.
They floating on the surface and block the sun's rays to prevent water from evaporating.
By doing this, they prevent the chemical reaction that creates the carcinogenic compound bromate.
The balls also form a protective barrier across the surface that helps keep birds, animals and other contaminants out away.
'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.
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But some people who ingest large amounts of bromate have suffered nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
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.
Los Angeles Reservoir's 'shade balls' are a 'bacterial nightmare' | Daily Mail Online
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The sea of 96MILLION plastic balls that LA hopes will save...
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