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This story seems to almost be out of science fiction (or The Prisoner) but the pictures don't lie. The water people in Los Angeles are so desperate to save what water is left in some reservoirs that they are essentially putting a roof on it by filling the lakes with black plastic balls:
Facing a long-term water crisis, officials concerned with preserving a reservoir in Los Angeles hatched a plan: They would combat four years of drought with 96 million plastic balls.
On Monday, Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles arrived at the 175-acre Los Angeles Reservoir to release the final installment of the project: 20,000 small black orbs that would float atop the water. [...]
Mr. Garcetti said that the dark balls would help block sunlight and UV rays that promote algae growth, which would help keep the city's drinking water safe. Officials also said the balls would help slow the rate of evaporation, which drains the water supply of about 300 million gallons a year. The balls cost $0.36 each and are part of a $34.5 million initiative to protect the water supply.
This is an ingenious way of reducing evaporation. Perhaps the state's aqueduct system can also be filled with these balls to stop evaporation there.
HughPickens.com also submitted this article just minutes later!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by FlyingSock on Thursday August 13 2015, @07:28AM
FIrst: You don't want no plastic in your water. You want plastic in your water.
Second: These reservoirs have a huge surface area, even if you had a tarp large enough it would still be hanging in the water (which again implies plastic in the water) same goes for a net. Gravity's a bitch like that. You could of course now propose installing pylons or something to support the tarp. But unless you invest quite a lot this would probably not be stable enough, as the water may also be quite deep and there would be significant wind stress on the tarp.
All in all I think the balls quite an elegant solution. A roof that carries itself by swimming on the surface. Of course the same solution could also have been achieved with other materials, but this would be significantly more expensive and not necessarily less harmful.
(Score: 2) by quadrox on Thursday August 13 2015, @07:37AM
FIrst[sic]: Please read my title again. I am not saying what you think I am saying.
Second: That's why you pull the ropes/net taut. As you said, tarp is probably not the ideal cover, some kind of dark cloth should do the trick though.
(Score: 2) by pogostix on Thursday August 13 2015, @08:15AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catenary [wikipedia.org]
pulling the ropes taut is easier said than done
(Score: 2) by jimshatt on Thursday August 13 2015, @10:48AM
(Score: 2) by Tramii on Thursday August 13 2015, @03:52PM
Plastic floating pylons?
(Score: 2) by jimshatt on Friday August 14 2015, @08:55AM