Plastic ‘shade balls’ save water, money

California is experiencing one of its most severe droughts on record, and its local municipalities have an astounding strategy to save water: turn their reservoirs into massive, floating ball pits.

During the past couple of years, cities across the state have dumped millions of “shade balls” — black, plastic balls weighted down with water — into their reservoirs.

The result is a terrifyingly hypnotic scene: a barreling barrage of black balls that just never seems to end.

The tactic prevents the chlorine in the water (used to disinfect it from pathogens) from reacting with sunlight to become bromate, a suspected carcinogen. It also protects water sources from wildlife and blocks it from the sun to reduce evaporation.

Los Angeles officials estimated at a news conference that shade balls will save around 300 million gallons of water each year. Of course, that’s nothing compared with the 13.6 billion gallons of water consumed by Los Angeles in June of this year alone.

The Environmental Protection Agency has mandated that all reservoirs be covered, and in Los Angeles, that would have cost an estimated $300 million to cover the 175-acre facility. But, thanks to shade balls, the bill was cut down to just $34.5 million.

Aside from Los Angeles, shade balls have also been used in the city of Ivanhoe (Tulare County) and the Las Virgenes Water District in Los Angeles County.

They can also be recycled, and are expected to last 10 years.