Shade balls are a thing! Not only that, shade balls are a thing that will help with the terrible California drought! Shade balls are the best! Shade balls…sorry, just wanted to says “shade balls” again!
Seriously though, how cool is this? In a effort to save 300 millions of gallons of water per year, the city of Los Angeles has released 96 million shade balls into the LA Reservoir.
According to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the plastic balls protect water quality by “preventing sunlight-triggered chemical reactions, deterring birds and other wildlife, and protecting water from rain and wind-blown dust.”
LA just completed a project at the LA Reservoir to save 300 million gallons of water by deploying shade balls on its surface, saving our city over $250 million dollars while keeping our water clean & safe.
Posted by Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday, August 10, 2015
Each ball is made in L.A. and costs $0.36 per ball. The $34.5 million investment is expected to save the city at least $250 million in comparison to other water-saving alternatives.
“As the drought continues, it has never been more important to focus on innovative ways to maintain the highest quality drinking water for our 4 million residents,” Los Angeles Councilman Mitchell Englander said in the press release.
Congratulations Los Angeles! It definitely takes some balls to do this kind of thing. Now if only every other city had the balls to do something like this.
