400,000 Black Balls Save L.A. Reservoir From Carcinogen

Its LA the balls will be stolen within 2 months!

Enjoy drinking your phylates, LA.

There's no problem the government can't make worse.

I hope the balls were not made in China.

I always cover my balls when I'm in the sun.

Gee, the reservoir has been there - exposed to the sun and smog - for at least 40+ years that i can remember.

THIS is what they've come up with?

Here's a radical idea: why not attempt to remove the bromate from the water?

Whatever happened to using 'activated' charcoal?

Are these just plain plastic balls, or are they like bio balls for a fish tank containing charcoal as a filter?

is there a video of this??

Anybody else picture 200,000 black dudes teabagging the reservoire?

And why do they think that no chemicals will leach out of these *plastic* balls?

That's exactly what I pictured.

Nice. Glad your mom lets you use the computer once a week to check e-mail, and ends up with this as a result. Go back to the basement.

when asked if this would work they replied: outlook uncertain ask again later.

That is by far the best artistic representation I have ever seen of the floating island of plastic waste the size of Texas that is currently growing in the Pacific Ocean. More plastic please! We are all doomed.

Turns out commies aren't the only things getting blackballed in LA

Okay, but is that the kind of plastic that leaches toxins into water? What is it's recycle number? It figures, just when I stop using plastic water bottles, you guys put plastic in at the source....thanks

Gee, would it not make more since to use white balls instead of black ones. Black will absorb the sun's heat, thus possibly making the water hotter?

Oh yeah and just a thought...Doesn't black attract heat? making the water hotter?

Anybody else picture 200,000 black dudes teabagging the reservoire?

No.

Anybody else picture 200,000 black dudes teabagging the reservoire?

MOD PARENT UP!

Anybody else picture 200,000 black dudes teabagging the reservoire?

Well, I am now.

No, I think you were the only one. And I think you have some homoerotic issues to work through

Relax, everything will be fine until the black balls are discovered to have been manufactured in China using carcinogenic materials or lead paint.

Not that anyone would notice any difference from the people in California.

4 YEARS??

I have a feeling this is a bad idea.

Is there any aquatic life there?

Can't wait to see what happens when 400,000 plastic balls start changing their chemical make up after exposure to hot sunlight. They might be making the situation worse as the oils from the plastic get into the water.

Wont the chemicals from the plastic when exposed to the sunlight leech into the water.....?

This is innovative and a good step. Uh, if the intent is to keep the water cooler would it not be better to have the balls in a light color that reflects heat rather than black which absorbs it and transfers it to the water? Derned six grade science class just won't go away.--

So the bisphenol a or phthalates or other potential carcinogens leaching out of the plastic balls are somehow better for us? What a ridiculous boondoggle.

How rather odd I stumble here considering my bromate reference a mere 4 hours ago. I wonder if blue balls are good for anything?

Wait till the "discover" all the carcinogens that leach into the water from the black balls! duh! muwahahaha...

So thats where my magic 8 ball disappeared to.

Great, now people will have pthalate or PCB leaching to contend with.

In related news, scientists discover that the plastic black balls made in China are more likely to cause serious health problems than bromide.

Anybody else picture 200,000 black dudes teabagging the reservoire?

Probably like 203,000. It's a dangerous world, man.

No. No teabag.

But WHO added the chlorine? It is an unstable chemical in water and will evaporate in a few days. As to the bromide, it too, had to be added.

Usually, those chemicals signify unsafe hazzards in the water. Someone is trying to "cover up" a problem...
Criptosporoza, or worse.

CHEERS EVERYONE!

I wonder if they will heat up the water and cause it to evaporate quicker? Remember, black absorbs sunlight and heats up pretty good. Also, in the movie, "The Abyss", they did kinda the same thing, only they used smaller balls the size of bb's or so. That way, they would have no light underwater where they were filming, and, if there were an emergency, they could get out of the water quicker than if they used a tarp over the water. Oh! They were filming in an uncompleated and abandoned nuclear power plant...

FILTHY!!

Anybody else picture 200,000 black dudes teabagging the reservoire?

No, that's stupid.

That...unfortunatly...is.exactly what I thought of after reading that headline. Do they do it intentionaly or is it that they are too lazy to proofread what they have written? Either way its hilarious

Anybody else picture 200,000 black dudes teabagging the reservoire?

nope

weird as hell yes but a pretty ingenious idea if you ask me....which you didn't

Only in California. Bromate? Chlorine? These are not found in rain water, or runoff. How the heck did the chemicals get into the water, anyway? I'll bet some enviromental wacko group forced the addition of free chlorine to the water in order to find a solution for a problem they created themselves.

What kind of cancer problems do you get from plastic balls that break down under UV exposure? Can you spell S-T-O-O-P-I-D?

No, because testicles look more like (nut-) sacks than balls.

Anything going to leach out of the plastic balls and contaminate the water? After 4 years? In the sun?

Huh, I wonder what the balls are made from... and what the plastic contains. Probably more carcinogens ?

Plastic leaching concern is understandable, I thought the same thing.
However a Google search clears up the issue, almost as fast as making an ignorant, presumptive comment does.

from http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/10/local/me-balls10?pg=1
"one of the DWP's biologists, Brian White, suggested "bird balls," commonly used by airports to prevent birds from congregating in wet areas alongside runways.

DWP officials and Orange Products, the Allentown, Pa.-based company that produces the balls, said this is the first time a major utility has used the globes to solve a water- quality problem for a drinking supply.

White said that Orange Products is the only company in the United States that could manufacture the balls, which are environmentally safe for drinking water and approved by NSF International, a government-sanctioned, nonprofit water quality organization.

The balls, which cost 40 cents each, are made of polyethylene. The coating contains carbon. Black is the only color strong enough to deflect ultraviolet rays, said Paul Sachdev, president of Orange Products."

from http://www.csslr.org/newsevents/events.php
Perhaps the greatest misinformation I have recently seen is the notion that the bird balls heat up and release toxic chemicals into the water. This is just simply not true. Granted, there are many different types of plastics and recent news has focused on certain plastics leaching chemicals. The reason DWP is using the bird balls is because they are the ONLY National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) drinking-water-approved product of its kind on the market. When we discuss NSF approval, it means that this product has been tested precisely to ensure that it does not create the kinds of problems that some are insisting they create. The balls are made of High Density Polyethylene - a long-time water industry product also used for pipelines, and a black version of the same clear product you buy your one gallon container of milk in (look on the bottom for the HDPE label). You will not find any legitimate news findings claiming that HDPE leaches chemicals into drinking water. As a matter of fact, other water agencies have contacted DWP out of recognition that this solution could have application for them as well.

The balls are made to survive in a hot, sunlight environment without breaking down, and they are warranted for 10 years - twice the lifetime we are looking for. As to the issue of heating the water, there are two important points. First, there is only a very, very small percentage of reservoir water actually in contact with the surface of the balls. Secondly, the balls are filled with air, which also acts as an insulating layer, much the way double pane windows and attics help keep the heat out of our homes.

Leaching and contamination, eh? Poly this and that from plastics? Coming soon, maybe in four years, The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

What do they want to shade the lakes for? Didn't they think that the balls are black? They even heat more up so prabably even more water evaporates.
Are they trying to save the world, or destraying it even more?
What a bullshit solution! Instead of reducing water usage in "lawn culture" and using permaculture principles to solve the worlds problems!

Karsten

It occurs to me that the leaching of 400,000 plastic balls from sun bleaching might have an injurious effect on the quality of the water...especially after 4 years. Then again maybe it's just me.

a+

mmm... tea...