LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles released 20,000 "shade balls" into the Los Angeles Reservoir Monday, the final stage of a $34.5 million project to prevent pollution of the city's drinking water.
The action was a part of a multi-billion capital improvement plan begun by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power several years ago to meet state and federal environmental mandates.
LADWP began holding community meetings throughout the city in July to discuss plans to raise rates to fund programs to meet environmental mandates and also to speed repairs to its infrastructure.
The four-inch polyethylene hollow black balls float on top of the water, blocking sunlight to prevent chemical reactions and curtail algae blooms. Monday's release brings the total to 96 million shade balls deployed.
"In the midst of California's historic drought, it takes bold ingenuity to maximize my goals for water conservation," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a prepared statement. "This effort by LADWP is emblematic of the kind of the creative thinking we need to meet those challenges."
Dr. Brian White, a now-retired LADWP biologist, was the first person to think of using shade balls to maintain water quality, according to the mayor's office. White adapted the concept after he witnessed so-called bird balls being used in ponds along airfield runways.
LADWP has been using shade balls in open-air reservoirs since 2008. Currently in place at Upper Stone, Elysian and Ivanhoe reservoirs, the shade balls reduce reservoir water evaporation by 85 to 90 percent.
The shade balls are expected to save $250 million and prevent the loss of more than 300 million gallons of water through evaporation, according to officials.
"Shade balls are an affordable and effective way to comply with regulations, and helps us continue to deliver the best drinking water to our customers," said Marcie Edwards, LADWP's general manager.
This tactic brings the reservoir into compliance with new federal water quality mandates. The shade balls are expected to save $250 million when compared to other comparable tools considered to meet that goal.
The reservoir holds 3.3 billion gallons of water, or enough to supply the entire city of Los Angeles with water for three weeks.
LADWP also plans to break ground soon on a $100 million ultraviolet treatment facility to further reduce water losses, officials said.
"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," said Councilmember Mitchell Englander.
