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There were 96 million black balls dropped into a reservoir in Los Angeles and it’s not for the reason you might think.
At first glance, it looks like the body of water is being transformed into a bizarre ball pit but the strange practice actually has some serious scientific reasoning behind it.
YouTuber Derek Muller, who runs the channel @veritasium, documented the dumping of the balls into the reservoir.
In the video description, he said: “I took a boat through 96 million black plastic balls on the Los Angeles reservoir to find out why they're there.
“The first time I heard about shade balls the claim was they reduce evaporation. But it turns out this isn't the reason they were introduced.”
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Taking his 15 million subscribers with him on the journey, Muller explained that the balls are partially filled with water to stop them from flying off into the nearby highway.
According to Muller, the balls are made of ‘high density polyethylene (HDPE) which is less dense than water so they float on the surface of the reservoir even if they break apart’.
The video goes on to explain: “Now the shade balls do absorb more energy and get hotter on top, but the bottom of the balls stays cool.
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“Plus the balls mostly contain air, which is a good thermal insulator and so not much of the heat is transferred through to the water.”
This means that the balls act as an insulator so that ‘the sun never hits the water’.
They also have a cooling effect to ‘reduce evaporation by 80 to 90%’.
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The main reason the balls are placed into the reservoir is to block sunlight from entering the water and triggering a chemical reaction that ‘turns harmless bromide into carcinogenic bromate’.
Muller explained: “This effect occurs with prolonged exposure to bromate so regulators insist that levels be kept below 10 microgram per liter on average over a 12 month period.”
Taking to the YouTube comment section, fans of the video shared their views, with one user posting: “I love how passionate that guy is about shade balls.”
A second said: “I’ve never wanted to jump into anything more in my entire life…”
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A third joked: “Mr Beast: I filled a backyard with Orbeez. LA Reservoir: hold my beer.”
And a fourth added: “Imagine how special you’d feel being the first shade ball in the lake.”