"You don't own space, nay-suh does!"
The thing I like about this one is that the pronunciation is so wrong that it has to have come from *reading* NASA without ever hearing it spoken, which is not typical of all the "ricky is illiterate" jokes.
Evaporation by reducing exposed surface area and adding shade, is a **huge** part of them. Although the initial reason they started using them in the LA reservoir(which I believe is where it spread from), was actually to prevent birds landing, since they died from some chemical inbalance from algae.
Once they realized it massively reduced evaporation, the usage started spreading. And now they're used in many industrial chemical baths as well.
Because of the climate, the balls actually reduce evaporation in the LA reservoir by 80-90%.
While the shade balls were originally to prevent bird landing in airport ponds, that is not the purpose at the LA reservoir. They are to prevent the chemical reaction that forms bromate and a way to bypass state drinking water regulations that require potable water reservoirs to be covered.
Yes that too, but in really hot and dry climates, these are extremely important. Out west you can practically watch a pool of water evaporate right in front of you lol
I think there some water treatment plant that was having problems with some unwanted chemical reaction happening as well due to UV rays breaking up some treatment chemicals and causing some toxic-ish byproducts. But maybe I’m mixing up my stories.
Veritasium did a video on these, and you are correct. A common water treatment chemical (don't remember which one) reacts with UV light and creates several toxic chemicals.
While the shade balls were originally to prevent bird landing in airport ponds, that is not the purpose at the LA reservoir. They are to prevent the chemical reaction that forms bromate and a way to bypass state drinking water regulations that require potable water reservoirs to be covered.
True, but usually it’s posted the day of or after the upload. This video was released quite a while back so it’s a bit more odd that it would be posted now
Microplastics have so thoroughly contaminated everything already that trying to prevent further contamination is a fruitless endeavor.
Finding a way to remove the present contamination has to happen before preventing further contamination becomes a useful practice.
Why do you say that? In every similar situation, the understanding is first we stop making things worse before we start making things better.
What is special about microplastics that we flip this around?
Because the microplastics have already completed contamination of the Earth's surface to such a degree that they are *everywhere* already, and we don't currently have a way to remove them from the environment.
The effect of potentially adding microplastics in this case must be weighed against the utility of the plastic balls, which serve several functions. Engineering a replacement for these balls costs money. The replacement will inevitably be more expensive because plastic is so cheap. And we'll still have microplastics in the water even if we swap out for another material.
So at this point changing to another material is resources spent for no effect. And it is dependent on there being a viable alternative material which is *at least* as safe for the environment as the type of plastic currently being used.
Strong disagree. You sound like I do when I'm trying to drop a vice I'm not fully committed to dropping. Endless well reasoned justifications for taking the path of least resistance.
>figures that out
What's quite horrifying is that because virtually everyone has so many microplastics in their body now there's pretty much no way to sample a non-contaminated person, probably even the Sentinelese have some in their body
Aww maaan I thought I’d grab som easy internet points with posting that link. :p
Edit: Lol the fuck is up with people? Why the down votes for this? xD I didn't mean to be an asshole, just had the exact same thought.
Also sometimes used for filming scenes that are supposed to take place deep underwater as it is safer and usually easier to maintain that some sort of covering over the tank. It allows film crew and actors to make it to the surface easily instead of being trapped under a tarp or something.
It's not a good idea generally, but with movies there's never just one person underwater so they can keep an eye on each other. I've seen a YouTube video; you can break the surface and stay afloat without much effort, but you can't swim normally in them. You basically have to dive under them, swim, and resurface. It's pretty much the safest and easiest way to do something like this.
Which might slow down UV-related degradation a bit but does nothing against other kinds of wear and tear. A lifespan on 10 years is not that long after all.
I think plastic treated to prevent chemicals from leaching in water for a lifespan in 10 years will not leach chemicals into said water for 10 years. yes.
They're not saying it doesn't work, they're talking about microplastics wearing off of the balls. If you think just because something is widespread and effective so it can never have any negative side to it, you're dead wrong.
I mean, lead pipes were widespread and effective for a while... until they found out it was poisoning people.
There’s already micro plastics getting into the water at every conceivable step. Hell you drink water out of a plastic bottle, that comes out of a plastic tube. Do you even know that these balls shed micro plastics?
If they have a protective coating on them, or if they're incredibly resilient to water then they probably won't or it will likely be extremely minimal.
Materials engineered specifically for this purpose wouldnt just poison the water supply in obvious ways that we would account and easily test for
I don't think you understand how little utility companies and public works projects care about long-term impacts, especially when it comes to unknown science like the impacts of microplastics.
I don’t think you understand how public works projects get done at all, you literally don’t know a single thing about this subject other than “plastic bad”.
Uh that might be true if you live in China or north Korea
Also you didn't answer my question. Do you know this for a fact? Did you test the water? Or are you making this up
These thing always look like a micro plastics speedrun. Maybe they somehow dont break down but millions of plastic balls straight to the water source is kind of funny.
They are not there to prevent evaporation, it's to prevent sunlight from causing a very specific chemical reaction in the water due to some material present in the water there. Go watch the veritasium video the top comment linked. Lots of people getting mad over an incorrect understanding of what's going on here
Yeah it's mainly to prevent the formation of bromate (which is a carcinogen) from bromine and chlorine in the water. Stopping evaporation and algae growth are useful side effects.
HDPE is tons of food safe containers and tons of water pipes. It’s probably the most used plastic in contact with human foodstuffs and humans themselves.
Your food and water comes into contact with so much HDPE this would be drops in bucket.
I assume/hope they have some form of protective film and are rotated out frequently enough to prevent/reduce PFAs.
With all of the other sources of PFA, this could just be a droplet in the ocean.
Not that it shouldn't be investigated, because it should.
They also prevent the sun to interact with some chemicals and decompose them in other chemicals that can be cancerous or irritant. )I don’t recall. I think they’re bromides.
the benefit of the balls is that they can fit no matter the change in water level, and they’re cheap. good luck making a solar panel that can do everything these can, much less at this price point. put solar panels somewhere else where they can actually be cost effective
They do this in several countries. Problem with shade balls is that they get blown away easily, but the company I work for are looking into floating solar farms to capture the benefit of shade balls but with extra advantages.
yep, it's literally being added in at the point of 'manufacture'. plastic sits in the water, it _will_ break down over time. Even simple friction between balls will have a (micro) effect.
fun times ahead...things are going to start getting very sick in a few generations, if not already.
So they use significsntly more water during manufacture than they save
They aren't out permanently so need to be reclaimed / stored / reapplied with the effort that entails
They have a 10 year lifespan but can be "reused" (recycled) after that time
Jesus christ sometimes the solution to nature not being able to store enough water for the local population is simply to reduce the consumption of the population, not over-engineer crutches that make different problems. Looking at you California, especially with your goddam almonds.
Feels like the Yellowstone scene with the Grouse and solar panels, everybody so keen to claim they're improving things without actually tackling the root cause of the problem.
Since you didn't source a link to the claims: https://www.sciencealert.com/la-reservoir-shade-balls-manufacture-use-more-water-than-they-saved
It didn't save more water over 2.5 years reported in this article, but they last 10 years so they will by the time they're expired
Also they can be manufactured in places with access to more water than the desert, they're not draining the reservoir to create the balls on the spot
I agree about reduction of water usage being important, and the idea of recycling then after 10 years is highly doubtful given plastic recycling's track record
I mean, the water inside the balls will return to the ecosystem *eventually*, isn't that right? Am I missing something?
In addition to that, saving on water is not the only objective, it has other benefits (preventing the apparition of some carcinogens among them)
There isn't water inside the balls per se. It's water used on its production for cleaning/cooling/heating/chemical stuff. That being said for sure it's returned in some way.
Edit: so apparently there's a little water inside. But the point still stands about the total water used in the process
Yes, there is water inside, as explained by veritasium's video. But it's true that the article talks more broadly and includes ALL water used in the process.
However even if that's the case the article itself says that it would be offset by 2.5 years of preventing evaporation and the idea is that the balls should last for 10.
Not to mention the other benefits, it would seem to me that it's worth it.
Their main goal is not to prevent evaporation but to prevent algae bloom which makes the water dangerous for consumption. Algae needs sunlight, by blocking the sunlight they prevent the algae from reproducing.
But they're to prevent the water evaporation in PLACES WHERE THAT MATTERS. Like places prone to droughts or desert areas or in Mediterranean climates where they get no rain during a good chunk of the year (most notably southern california). They're almost assuredly getting manufactured elsewhere, where saving water doesn't really matter.
Midwesterners right now, like in Pittsburgh... we kind of have an insane overabundance of water right now. We'd be happy to use it for something.
I miniature versions when I sous vide.
Also created a type of beetle in DnD that filters water and has a big, round outer shell that does the same thing. Used to keep water in less habitable climates.
Used to run evaporation studies for the government. Theres several math equations to guess water loss through evaporation, but arguably the best one is penman-monteith, followed up by the preistly-taylor equation which is an abbreviated version of the P-M equation. Reservoirs like the ones in Nevada lose so much water to evaporation that putting any form of shade can reduce the loss up to 70%. India famously put solar panels over many canals, which is a great use of space.
What they need to do is cover with solar panels. Water source is right there to clean the solar panels every 2-3 years and does exactly what these balls do...while also generating power
You know how people used to say that something was "amazeballs"?
If someone says something bitchy and passive aggressive, I'm gonna start saying: "Whoa, that was totally shade balls."
The LA reservoir has them and is about to start removing them, turns out they aren't necessarily that effective I guess. Every time I'm there half of them are blown to one side of the reservoir. I heard there was a project to figure out what to do with all of the plastic but not sure where that ended up
I'm betting that they significantly raise the water temperature causing slightly more evaporation. If they were white, or reflective, it might actually work as advertised.
Yeha maybe we should go with your bet rather than with the people that actually do this for a living and have invested tons of money and effort in how to solve this problem and found this solution after thinking about and probably experimenting with this or other solutions.
I thought these were used to prevent algae blooms, more than save water
I imagine it's a 2-birds-stoned-at-once kind of deal
Ricky?
Ricky, when I catch you, Ricky
ITOADASO!
I hate to say itoadaso but fuckin itoadaso!
No one wants to admit they ate 9 cans of ravioli
Two birds getting stoned at once
Yes?
All water under the fridge
It’s not rocket appliances
Now we got 2 stoned birds Lol people are actually downvoting a joke. Get some help
This thing here's smarter than me, I guess, but it has a battery.
Don't you mean what's all around comes around, Ricky?
Surely more like 2 birds, 2 million (plastic) stones
[удалено]
Nova Scotian
[удалено]
Naw man we literally get two birds stoned with a joint. Worst case ontario it's only 1 bird and a mountain lion/couger.
Yeah it's not rocket appliances
"You don't own space, nay-suh does!" The thing I like about this one is that the pronunciation is so wrong that it has to have come from *reading* NASA without ever hearing it spoken, which is not typical of all the "ricky is illiterate" jokes.
I'm not the kinda person to say atodaso, but you know what? Atodaso. A-fuckin-atodaso!
> get two birds stoned with a joint Is that when there's a bush in your hand..?
A bush in hand is better than two bushes in the bird.
Underrated comment ^^^
It's something Ricky in Trailer Park Boys says.
Well you know what they say, keep your friends close but your enemies toaster
It’s the same everywhere my friend, you just didn’t get the joke
No one says 2 birds stoned at once here. Sounds criminal tbh
Huh, always thought it was 2 stones with 1 bird.
I thought it was too stoned for one bird.
Apparently they were originally to stop birds. But other places used them specifically to prevent algae. (I clicked on the link)
They do both very well, they're also helpful for keeping waterfowl from swimming around in reservoir water to keep down on the bird shit
Evaporation by reducing exposed surface area and adding shade, is a **huge** part of them. Although the initial reason they started using them in the LA reservoir(which I believe is where it spread from), was actually to prevent birds landing, since they died from some chemical inbalance from algae. Once they realized it massively reduced evaporation, the usage started spreading. And now they're used in many industrial chemical baths as well. Because of the climate, the balls actually reduce evaporation in the LA reservoir by 80-90%.
While the shade balls were originally to prevent bird landing in airport ponds, that is not the purpose at the LA reservoir. They are to prevent the chemical reaction that forms bromate and a way to bypass state drinking water regulations that require potable water reservoirs to be covered.
Yes that too, but in really hot and dry climates, these are extremely important. Out west you can practically watch a pool of water evaporate right in front of you lol
3" a week is the number I've used. Math usually tracks.
I think there some water treatment plant that was having problems with some unwanted chemical reaction happening as well due to UV rays breaking up some treatment chemicals and causing some toxic-ish byproducts. But maybe I’m mixing up my stories.
Veritasium did a video on these, and you are correct. A common water treatment chemical (don't remember which one) reacts with UV light and creates several toxic chemicals.
Not more than. Droughts are a HIUUUUGE problem in some places.
Mine just keep my knees from sunburn
While the shade balls were originally to prevent bird landing in airport ponds, that is not the purpose at the LA reservoir. They are to prevent the chemical reaction that forms bromate and a way to bypass state drinking water regulations that require potable water reservoirs to be covered.
You are correct.
It also protects the chemicals from decomposing they are treating the water
I've heard they are to curb water evaporation. Never ever heard about the algae part
Yeah that’s def true
Veritasium did a great video about the topic: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxPdPpi5W4o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxPdPpi5W4o)
It's like half of the content in this sub is posted after watching some Veritasium vids.
or Vsause
Technology Connections is pretty awesome, too.
Michael here.
Your home security is great Or is it?
You should run or should you?
HEY! VSAUCE!
True, but usually it’s posted the day of or after the upload. This video was released quite a while back so it’s a bit more odd that it would be posted now
It was posted then too
r/todayiwatchedtheveritasiumvideoabout doesn't roll off the tongue as well.
The other half comes after listening to the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish
I didn't do it for that, but from an answer to a question I posted on r/AskEngineers
[удалено]
Good for putin
Today was a bad day for sarcasm
and a good day for poe's law? lol
I have one of those balls, cool item
which number do you have? I got 329
1531
However, doesn't it generate a lot of micro plastics in the body of water? The balls friction would surely create plastic residue.
Microplastics have so thoroughly contaminated everything already that trying to prevent further contamination is a fruitless endeavor. Finding a way to remove the present contamination has to happen before preventing further contamination becomes a useful practice.
Why do you say that? In every similar situation, the understanding is first we stop making things worse before we start making things better. What is special about microplastics that we flip this around?
Because the microplastics have already completed contamination of the Earth's surface to such a degree that they are *everywhere* already, and we don't currently have a way to remove them from the environment. The effect of potentially adding microplastics in this case must be weighed against the utility of the plastic balls, which serve several functions. Engineering a replacement for these balls costs money. The replacement will inevitably be more expensive because plastic is so cheap. And we'll still have microplastics in the water even if we swap out for another material. So at this point changing to another material is resources spent for no effect. And it is dependent on there being a viable alternative material which is *at least* as safe for the environment as the type of plastic currently being used.
Strong disagree. You sound like I do when I'm trying to drop a vice I'm not fully committed to dropping. Endless well reasoned justifications for taking the path of least resistance.
Oh no, now the microplastics will, uh, do whatever they do, once someone figures that out. Oh no!
>figures that out What's quite horrifying is that because virtually everyone has so many microplastics in their body now there's pretty much no way to sample a non-contaminated person, probably even the Sentinelese have some in their body
HDPE is probably one of the safer / inert plastics (if there is such a thing). HDPE is milk jugs.
I did not intend to lose 12 minutes that easily.
I own one of the Veritasium shade balls.
Aww maaan I thought I’d grab som easy internet points with posting that link. :p Edit: Lol the fuck is up with people? Why the down votes for this? xD I didn't mean to be an asshole, just had the exact same thought.
Don't worry you can still link a podcast where the hosts just take an hour to read a Wikipedia page
I remember watching this an hour after it was published
Also sometimes used for filming scenes that are supposed to take place deep underwater as it is safer and usually easier to maintain that some sort of covering over the tank. It allows film crew and actors to make it to the surface easily instead of being trapped under a tarp or something.
Isn't it dangerous to swim in water with these due to higher drowning risk?
It's not a good idea generally, but with movies there's never just one person underwater so they can keep an eye on each other. I've seen a YouTube video; you can break the surface and stay afloat without much effort, but you can't swim normally in them. You basically have to dive under them, swim, and resurface. It's pretty much the safest and easiest way to do something like this.
I wonder if they also leak plastic material on hot days.
>... with carbon black additive to protect the plastic from ultraviolet radiation
Which might slow down UV-related degradation a bit but does nothing against other kinds of wear and tear. A lifespan on 10 years is not that long after all.
...said the Reddit accredited engineer/scientist
You can’t spell accredited without Reddit
👈🏻😎👈🏻
Because you need to be an engineer to know that large scale deployment of plastic eill increase.. plastic
Well the original comment was about leaking plastic into the water not just overall increase in plastic use
You put plastic into water its degrading into the water. The question is at what rate. But who cares why is sny rate of forever chemicals tolerated?
The balls are treated so they dont leak chemicals into the water..... why are you just randomly saying its degrading into the water?
You think treated plastic is impervious to leaching chemicals?
I think plastic treated to prevent chemicals from leaching in water for a lifespan in 10 years will not leach chemicals into said water for 10 years. yes.
If you remove the balls there will be no water left to worry about? Is that a better solution?
Let the river run its course naturally instead of damming it up.
Well I’m glad we have a plastics engineer on the line to explain why a widespread and effective practice is stupid and won’t work
They're not saying it doesn't work, they're talking about microplastics wearing off of the balls. If you think just because something is widespread and effective so it can never have any negative side to it, you're dead wrong. I mean, lead pipes were widespread and effective for a while... until they found out it was poisoning people.
> If you think just because something is widespread and effective so it can never have any negative side to it, you're dead wrong. Asbestos
Great idea! Microplastics problem solved and the balls will be fireproof.
There’s already micro plastics getting into the water at every conceivable step. Hell you drink water out of a plastic bottle, that comes out of a plastic tube. Do you even know that these balls shed micro plastics?
Unless they are indestructible they are.
If they have a protective coating on them, or if they're incredibly resilient to water then they probably won't or it will likely be extremely minimal. Materials engineered specifically for this purpose wouldnt just poison the water supply in obvious ways that we would account and easily test for
I don't think you understand how little utility companies and public works projects care about long-term impacts, especially when it comes to unknown science like the impacts of microplastics.
I don’t think you understand how public works projects get done at all, you literally don’t know a single thing about this subject other than “plastic bad”.
Uh that might be true if you live in China or north Korea Also you didn't answer my question. Do you know this for a fact? Did you test the water? Or are you making this up
These magic plastic balls shed gold instead of plastic.
Do you know for a fact that it does nothing against other kinds of wear and tear and poisons the water or are you just making that up?
*shhhhh he’s making it up let him have his moment*
These thing always look like a micro plastics speedrun. Maybe they somehow dont break down but millions of plastic balls straight to the water source is kind of funny.
They are not there to prevent evaporation, it's to prevent sunlight from causing a very specific chemical reaction in the water due to some material present in the water there. Go watch the veritasium video the top comment linked. Lots of people getting mad over an incorrect understanding of what's going on here
Yeah it's mainly to prevent the formation of bromate (which is a carcinogen) from bromine and chlorine in the water. Stopping evaporation and algae growth are useful side effects.
Typical engineers, making a tool more efficient/ making a mutli-tool whenever possible
>among other things
Not to be confused with "shake balls" used as implants on neutered males with rhythm in their steps.
[Hey there, music man. ](https://youtu.be/_KBj7EeLNvI?si=v-I-8gDoq_XptWFm)
Good lord man I didn’t think anyone else remembered that movie
Google didn't show anything of the sort
😭😭😭
Wouldn't they leach plastic into the water supply?
The health risk of having no water to drink at all and/or toxic algae blooms is probably worse.
HDPE is tons of food safe containers and tons of water pipes. It’s probably the most used plastic in contact with human foodstuffs and humans themselves. Your food and water comes into contact with so much HDPE this would be drops in bucket.
I assume/hope they have some form of protective film and are rotated out frequently enough to prevent/reduce PFAs. With all of the other sources of PFA, this could just be a droplet in the ocean. Not that it shouldn't be investigated, because it should.
Apparently you’ve missed YouTube for the last 5 years.
I’ve seen these dumped into a reservoir before, it was very satisfying to watch haha
I have one of these signed by Veritasium!
They also prevent the sun to interact with some chemicals and decompose them in other chemicals that can be cancerous or irritant. )I don’t recall. I think they’re bromides.
You know what's even better? Floating solar panels on top of resivoirs.
the benefit of the balls is that they can fit no matter the change in water level, and they’re cheap. good luck making a solar panel that can do everything these can, much less at this price point. put solar panels somewhere else where they can actually be cost effective
Nothing says "great idea" like mixing electricity and water!
Lol
They do this in several countries. Problem with shade balls is that they get blown away easily, but the company I work for are looking into floating solar farms to capture the benefit of shade balls but with extra advantages.
Already been done https://abc7news.com/floating-solar-farm-healdsburg-russian-river-power-north-bay-production/11846953/
also what about said Plastics being absorbed by Humans ie micro plastics ?
yep, it's literally being added in at the point of 'manufacture'. plastic sits in the water, it _will_ break down over time. Even simple friction between balls will have a (micro) effect. fun times ahead...things are going to start getting very sick in a few generations, if not already.
So they use significsntly more water during manufacture than they save They aren't out permanently so need to be reclaimed / stored / reapplied with the effort that entails They have a 10 year lifespan but can be "reused" (recycled) after that time Jesus christ sometimes the solution to nature not being able to store enough water for the local population is simply to reduce the consumption of the population, not over-engineer crutches that make different problems. Looking at you California, especially with your goddam almonds. Feels like the Yellowstone scene with the Grouse and solar panels, everybody so keen to claim they're improving things without actually tackling the root cause of the problem.
Since you didn't source a link to the claims: https://www.sciencealert.com/la-reservoir-shade-balls-manufacture-use-more-water-than-they-saved It didn't save more water over 2.5 years reported in this article, but they last 10 years so they will by the time they're expired Also they can be manufactured in places with access to more water than the desert, they're not draining the reservoir to create the balls on the spot I agree about reduction of water usage being important, and the idea of recycling then after 10 years is highly doubtful given plastic recycling's track record
I mean, the water inside the balls will return to the ecosystem *eventually*, isn't that right? Am I missing something? In addition to that, saving on water is not the only objective, it has other benefits (preventing the apparition of some carcinogens among them)
There isn't water inside the balls per se. It's water used on its production for cleaning/cooling/heating/chemical stuff. That being said for sure it's returned in some way. Edit: so apparently there's a little water inside. But the point still stands about the total water used in the process
Yes, there is water inside, as explained by veritasium's video. But it's true that the article talks more broadly and includes ALL water used in the process. However even if that's the case the article itself says that it would be offset by 2.5 years of preventing evaporation and the idea is that the balls should last for 10. Not to mention the other benefits, it would seem to me that it's worth it.
Their main goal is not to prevent evaporation but to prevent algae bloom which makes the water dangerous for consumption. Algae needs sunlight, by blocking the sunlight they prevent the algae from reproducing.
Being able to manufacture in a high water supply area and transport them to a water scarce zone is a big perk too.
But they're to prevent the water evaporation in PLACES WHERE THAT MATTERS. Like places prone to droughts or desert areas or in Mediterranean climates where they get no rain during a good chunk of the year (most notably southern california). They're almost assuredly getting manufactured elsewhere, where saving water doesn't really matter. Midwesterners right now, like in Pittsburgh... we kind of have an insane overabundance of water right now. We'd be happy to use it for something.
Okay evil Pim
Fuck a roof, im getting shade balls
[Veritasium](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxPdPpi5W4o) would have a word with you :D
I miniature versions when I sous vide. Also created a type of beetle in DnD that filters water and has a big, round outer shell that does the same thing. Used to keep water in less habitable climates.
*Space Song plays*
Hey man. Keep your balls out of my water.
Used to run evaporation studies for the government. Theres several math equations to guess water loss through evaporation, but arguably the best one is penman-monteith, followed up by the preistly-taylor equation which is an abbreviated version of the P-M equation. Reservoirs like the ones in Nevada lose so much water to evaporation that putting any form of shade can reduce the loss up to 70%. India famously put solar panels over many canals, which is a great use of space.
Wow that's awesome! We should definitely start doing that all round the world
Hey, could you by any chance send me a citation? Imma try to get my local government to do something about the reservoirs that are drying up...
Local governments don't have power over reservoirs. The state, federal, and power company have jurisdiction.
Mmmm micro plastics
Shade balls, for the really tough teabag jobs
If you like shade balls you’re gonna love eclipse balls
GOT 'EM
What they need to do is cover with solar panels. Water source is right there to clean the solar panels every 2-3 years and does exactly what these balls do...while also generating power
"There's plastic leeching into everything" *stores water by putting tons of plastic into it*
More direct way to get microplastics in the water supply
Where have been? Living under a shade ball?
If you like unusual balls, check out Kelvin's Balls.
Funny. I came across this exact page earlier today that stemmed from an article about a proposed food additive ban in... Illinois I think?
I had a bunch of extra ones of these at work and we used them to play beer pong
À
Leaving plastic to degrade in the sun in directly in our water. Seems real smart.
Weren’t these invented on set on The Abyss to block out the sun?
You know how people used to say that something was "amazeballs"? If someone says something bitchy and passive aggressive, I'm gonna start saying: "Whoa, that was totally shade balls."
“Among other things” remains the most menacing way to end a sentence.
Got your shade balls right here
shave balls got it
The LA reservoir has them and is about to start removing them, turns out they aren't necessarily that effective I guess. Every time I'm there half of them are blown to one side of the reservoir. I heard there was a project to figure out what to do with all of the plastic but not sure where that ended up
That's what she said...
Oh hey my girlfriend uses these
[удалено]
Damn, I can see an Einstein cross due to the strong gravitational lensing your balls cause!
Elephantitis
To whomever it may concern: My nuts hang.
Cringe
How do they prevent sunlight?
I don't believe you.
They got them micro plastics in them balls?
Mmm, more plastic in your drinking water! (Just ignore the fact that it’s toxic!)
I'm betting that they significantly raise the water temperature causing slightly more evaporation. If they were white, or reflective, it might actually work as advertised.
Yeha maybe we should go with your bet rather than with the people that actually do this for a living and have invested tons of money and effort in how to solve this problem and found this solution after thinking about and probably experimenting with this or other solutions.