Historically dry winters combined with years of below–average rainfall have taken a toll on California. From parched reservoirs to dry river beds, the effects can be seen across the state.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power dumped a whopping 96 million plastic balls into its reservoir to prevent the water from evaporating, and to block the sunlight from bromide and chlorine in the water which can turn into bromate, a suspected carcinogen. Bromide is naturally present in groundwater and chlorine is used to kill bacteria, but sunlight is the final ingredient in the potentially harmful mix.
Open reservoirs exposed to sunlight are now rare. But state health officials said the dangers were minimal because bromate poses a small cancer risk only after consumed daily over a lifetime.
The ‘shade’ balls, which cost 33 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.
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