Those reservoir balls - are they safe?

So the DWP dropped the first of about 3 million little black plastic balls into the Ivanhoe Reservoir in Silver Lake. Right away you, our brilliant, funny (and occasionally cranky - have you read the comments?) readers wanted to know, are the balls safe? Will they be recycled? Will chemicals in all that plastic leach into the water?

Our own Francisco Vara-Orta went looking for some answers:

Pankaj Parekh, director for water quality compliance for the DWP, says that the balls will all be recycled after they are extracted for good from the reservoirs in a few years. The balls are of the HDPE recyclable material.

As for leaching chemicals into the water, Parekh said that the balls, manufactured by Allentown, Pa.-based Orange Products, are environmentally safe to be placed in drinking water and will withstand the chlorine and sunlight. He said that Orange Products was the only company nationwide that could make these specific kinds of plastic balls - tested and certified as safe by the National Sanitation Foundation.(www.nsf.org)

He said they are made differently than the ones you’d see at Chuck E. Cheese or of similar material used for milk jugs or bleach bottles.

“Not all plastics are the same,” Parekh said. “But these are absolutely safe, we wouldn’t have placed them in the water otherwise.”

Let Round Two of the comments begin.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

 

Comments

[Jackhammer]

the problem is not evaporation. it is the formation of bromate, a substance that can cause cancer if consumed daily, such as drinking water from a tap. besides it takes a long time for water to heat up and cool down. if the balls have to be heated up by the sun first it takes longer for the heat to reach the water. by the time the balls are hot enough to evaporate the water beneath them it is night-time and the balls cool down. when you think abou the processes involved it does stop evaporation. as for leaching of plastic HDPE is used in pipes in houses and considering how DWP doesn't really have the objective of killing people because of negligence i would say that it is a pretty safe substance.

[asark]

This is bullsh*t. The black balls are in the water and sun for years and we're supposed to trust that they wont break down? HDPE is not the safest non-leaching plastic. They just realized that BPA is a endocrine disruptor in other types of plastic and can cause cancer. I think that's a pretty good indicator that we don't know a lot about the potential hazards of all types of plastics. I think there should be some more research done before dumping this crap into our drinking water.

[Frank Furlong]

Why black balls in the Ivanhoe reservoir? Black does not reflect light, therefor must absorb the heat from the sun, transferring it to the water it's supposedly protecting. Yellow, or white would reflect the light and keep the water cooler. And besides that if they threw in a few rubber duckies it would be more in keeping with the neighborhood ambience.

[Joe Moreland]

Seems to me that black plastic balls that roll around the surface of a water body would increase the surface temperature and vastly increase the wetted area of the lake. I can't imagine how this can reduce evaporation from the lake. I'd have to see some serious research before I would believe it. Sounds like a poorly thought-out plan.

Joe A. Moreland

[Nathan Tia]

Additional information on the balls used based data provided by the manufacturer.

Blow molded in POLYPROPYLENE, POLYETHYLENE, and PVDF; these hollow balls are resistant to chemicals up to temperatures of 320° F.

By covering over 90% of the liquid surface they provide a cost effective and
maintenance free solution for the control of:

*Heat Losses and Evaporation of Liquids
*Corrosive Fumes and Foul Odors
*Microbial Growth

When used in scrubbers and mist eliminators to reduce chemical vapor emissions, they offer several advantages over traditional column packing materials:

*Greater Liquid/Air Contact
*Less Plugging = Lower Pressure Drop
*Higher Operating Efficiencies
*Lower Cost

[Nathan Tia]

Some additional info as to why black was chosen. An excerpt from an MSNBC article. The article addresses both concerns regarding plastic choice, and color selection:

"A DWP chemist told Tokumatsu that this form of polyethylene has been tested, and as long as the balls are kept clean, wildlife should not be affected.

DWP Environmental Engineer Dr. Pankaj Parekh said black was chosen because other colors have different leaching properties."

[Ruby Jackson]

You know, a few years ago, the DWP wanted to cover the reservoir to prevent contamination, but the residents in Silver Lake formed a group to fight the plan and preserve their view of the lake. Now, in an effort to protect the water from contamination, the DWP has dumped what looks like the same garbage that fouls the LA River into it. I wonder which solution the residents now prefer?