Saving water....

[Mugwump]

[big b]

What am I looking at?

[Mugwump]

What am I looking at?

Plastic balls on a reservoir .....slows evaporation....

[Mugwump]

..called 'shade balls'....

http://abcnews.go.com/US/los-angeles-reservoir-covered-96-million-shade-balls/story?id=33038319

[LizStreithorst]

I didn't know what it was when I saw the pic but after you posted the link I realized that I heard the story on NPR this afternoon.  Very inovative.

[ghonk]

What am I looking at?

Water Balloons.

[big b]

Imagine if you got suck underneath those balls cuz you went swimming.

[BillT]

Something similar is used sometimes in labs for water baths, which can evaporate fast because they are hot.

[PaulineMi]

The first thought I had when I watched those balls being dumped in the reservoir....why black? They are considered shade balls but dark colors attract and hold heat. It's always sunny there so I don't understand this. I even tried googling how this would work...nada...only that they did this to prevent evaporation. Wouldn't heated water be a haven for bacterial growth?

[BallAquatics]

I imagine it's due to the nature of plastics.  Light colored plastics do not do well in sun light.  That's the reason almost all items made of plastic that are for outdoor use are black, trash cans, stock tanks, etc.

Also, being dark in color they will not show dirt.  Can you imagine what white colored balls would look like in a few months??

Dennis

[PaulineMi]

I imagine it's due to the nature of plastics.  Light colored plastics do not do well in sun light.  That's the reason almost all items made of plastic that are for outdoor use are black, trash cans, stock tanks, etc.

Also, being dark in color they will not show dirt.  Can you imagine what white colored balls would look like in a few months??

Dennis

Yes...I thought about white plastic getting nasty looking. This is an interesting project. Drastic times, drastic measures. Big b makes a point worth thinking about.....

[Mugwump]

I imagine it's due to the nature of plastics.  Light colored plastics do not do well in sun light.  That's the reason almost all items made of plastic that are for outdoor use are black, trash cans, stock tanks, etc.

Also, being dark in color they will not show dirt.  Can you imagine what white colored balls would look like in a few months??

Dennis

Yes...I thought about white plastic getting nasty looking. This is an interesting project. Drastic times, drastic measures. Big b makes a point worth thinking about.....

If you were swimming in there they would move with your motions...a wave of your hand, or a splash moves em out of your way...

[PaulineMi]

I was letting my imagination wander....as in Compton gangs stuff, indigents, etc.

Anyway, hopefully this works for them....or at least helps out.

[Ron Sower]

I imagine it's due to the nature of plastics.  Light colored plastics do not do well in sun light.  That's the reason almost all items made of plastic that are for outdoor use are black, trash cans, stock tanks, etc.

Also, being dark in color they will not show dirt.  Can you imagine what white colored balls would look like in a few months??

Dennis

Yes...I thought about white plastic getting nasty looking. This is an interesting project. Drastic times, drastic measures. Big b makes a point worth thinking about.....

If you were swimming in there they would move with your motions...a wave of your hand, or a splash moves em out of your way...

Another note about plastics and outdoors - The UV light from the spectrum is what causes plastic to become brittle and break/crumble easily. Most likely the manufacturer blended some UV Inhibitor into the plastic (UVI). That and the dark color help them last longer. White or clear plastic with UVI will survive long exposures to the sunlight. (I used to work for a company that extruded plastics...some for outdoor use). This information is about polyethylene plastics.


When I saw this on TV I wondered about the black absorbing the heat and heating the water, and maybe, thereby, creating more water vapor to escape through the interstitial spaces between the balls. Also is this going to cut of O2/CO2 exchange and create a totally different, maybe anaerobic, water column? 

Things that make you go......''hmmmmmmm"!

Oh..one more thing....most of the time the black and grey colorant added to the resin mix is to cover impurity colors from using recycled plastics. This was several years ago when I was in the business. 

[Mugwump]

I imagine it's due to the nature of plastics.  Light colored plastics do not do well in sun light.  That's the reason almost all items made of plastic that are for outdoor use are black, trash cans, stock tanks, etc.

Also, being dark in color they will not show dirt.  Can you imagine what white colored balls would look like in a few months??

Dennis

Yes...I thought about white plastic getting nasty looking. This is an interesting project. Drastic times, drastic measures. Big b makes a point worth thinking about.....

If you were swimming in there they would move with your motions...a wave of your hand, or a splash moves em out of your way...

Another note about plastics and outdoors - The UV light from the spectrum is what causes plastic to become brittle and break/crumble easily. Most likely the manufacturer blended some UV Inhibitor into the plastic (UVI). That and the dark color help them last longer. White or clear plastic with UVI will survive long exposures to the sunlight. (I used to work for a company that extruded plastics...some for outdoor use). This information is about polyethylene plastics.


When I saw this on TV I wondered about the black absorbing the heat and heating the water, and maybe, thereby, creating more water vapor to escape through the interstitial spaces between the balls. Also is this going to cut of O2/CO2 exchange and create a totally different, maybe anaerobic, water column? 

Things that make you go......''hmmmmmmm"!

Oh..one more thing....most of the time the black and grey colorant added to the resin mix is to cover impurity colors from using recycled plastics. This was several years ago when I was in the business.

I'm sure they thought this project through pretty well. The balls don't completely cover the reservoir surface...plus they'll shift easily with winds, etc...I haven't noticed if they'll run a boat around to stir things up, or something of that nature....??...and I think there are feeder streams there too...albeit likely not flowing anywhere near peak capacity....so the water would never get stagnant...especially with the volume involved....still an awful lot of water in there...