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.
Huge thanks to LADWP for arranging this special tour for me. Next time let’s put the GoPro on the submersible!
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. They are 10cm (4 inches) in diameter and contain about 210ml of water. So the main reason they are on the reservoir is to block sunlight from entering the water and triggering a chemical reaction that turns harmless bromide into carcinogenic bromate. 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.
Special thanks to Patreon supporters:
Donal Botkin, Michael Krugman, Ron Neal, Stan Presolski, Terrance Shepherd, Penward Rhyme and everyone who provided feedback on an early draft of this video.
Thanks to:
Las Virgenes Reservoir for footage of initial shade ball dump
Euro-Matic for bird into jet-engine footage
Researched and Produced by Casey Rentz
Animations by Maria Raykova
Music from “Colorful Animation 4” “Seaweed”
And from Kevin MacLeod “Marty Gots a Plan”
This is an educational video about the science of water quality.
Suáve
25.04.2022Mhm
sejma9
25.04.202248 million black men
Hari Murali
25.04.2022@Veritasium couldn't they have gone with broad leaved aquatic plants like waterlily, lotus etc.?
ztwntyn8
25.04.2022Algae I’d say
Ethan Dominic
25.04.2022Veritasium: Talking seriously about the balls.
Me: Having a seizure trying not to say "deez nu-"
Perfect Fruit
25.04.2022Ladies and gentlemen, these are the people who have ruined our nation and you could be one of them. fjb
icannotfly
25.04.2022wait isn't carbon black carcinogenic?
Lucky S
25.04.2022$31, 680, 000 of the tax payers money well spent.
Yt The killer whale
25.04.2022Black balls lmao😹😹😭😭😂😂
marianwhit
25.04.2022We are gonna try a lot of crazy stuff, and a lot of it will create new and bigger problems. Can we say "plasticizers"? And why are you running around in a petroleum run vehicle in people's drinking water? You can't "fake" a healthy watershed….this is gross. Our species is insane. These people are actually proud of themselves. Why don't we just kill off all the birds now…there is no room for them anyway.
Psycho for Science
25.04.2022that bird died at the airport
Chaskka
25.04.2022Kim Kardashian wet Dream
71 DhanisMGibran
25.04.2022I love black balls
_GK_1234_
25.04.2022in 5:50 you can see a bird being killed by the spinning propeller of the plane and its feathers flying out the other way
Omega Slash
25.04.2022Sus
oversized fart
25.04.2022"its rare to see 96 million of anything"
atoms: allow us to introduce ourselves
Ali Sara gaming
25.04.2022Wonderful
Bethy Mears
25.04.2022Balled a dash.
Mr willy
25.04.202296,000,000 million blacks balls and it still doesent beat the world record of your moms house..
PARANJAY
25.04.20225:50 RIP bird . going into one of the engine
BNY
23.04.2022So all were getting cancer for free??
Penney Reed
23.04.2022Could they stop being round? This structure would be so much more fun using buckey balls 😈
Xooks
23.04.2022Same question military men have tp ask when they come home eary.
Toman-Sager Ben
23.04.2022"Imagine all the lag"
– all gamers watching this
Jack Rangaiah
23.04.2022because ur mom was busy 💅
Bobby Liang
23.04.2022A prominent scientist recommended filling the water with blue balls but it only garnered laughter.
Owen Tirrell
23.04.20225:50 the bird got sliced in the jet
ShtuffYT
23.04.2022Deez shady balls
[email protected]
23.04.2022This doesn't make any sense.. why would the reservoir be BETWEEN the filtration plant and the customer??? You're saying that the water gets filtered and treated and then goes back to the reservoir then directly to the customer?? No wonder some crazy things come from LA . Jk. But really, the line up must be wrong.
eveofneverland
23.04.2022Alright, this has been in my recommended for 2 years, guess it’s time to watch it
Sharky Sharks
21.04.20220:57
Racism be like:
Adoni / planet 10
21.04.2022Waste of material
Doofenshmirtz
21.04.2022Instead of plastic balls they could have use plastic sheets.
Farhana Istakar
21.04.20225:50 we need justice for shawn the seagul
Farhana Istakar
21.04.20225:50 R.I.P eren
Henrique
21.04.2022And that's how much balls he can fit in his own mouth
Enclave_soldier_ 2077
21.04.2022🤨
IvanPinesLol
21.04.2022Title: “…black balls…” 🤨
0:57 : 🤨📸
Tinction MUSIC
21.04.2022No es lo mismo una pelota negra que una negra en pelotas
simunator
21.04.2022wonder if this would cause significant change in the precipitation cycle within inland regions. would you see less rain, less frequent rain?
焼き芋
21.04.2022どうやって回収する?
Lucas infinity
21.04.2022This is supposed to be a joke but racist hahaha you better laugh
Bob Martin
21.04.2022AC/DC still has the biggest balls of them all!! And it's not nuts, they are balls lol
Google Account
21.04.2022mmm
KidDJ
21.04.2022You sound like young shelden
Encasa Digital Agency
21.04.2022It's a treat to see a guy in suits know so much and so passionately about what he does. Also, this is part of the reason why Japan put their reservoir underground.
Mike Sokolow
21.04.2022Wondering if you could do a vid, explaining why farts generally smell the same, after passing through bath water. Asking for a friend.😆
Mike Sokolow
21.04.20225:52, instant chicken salad, ok chicken soup, ok, chicken mist.
Mike Sokolow
21.04.2022The world needs black balls, ask that girl.
raid • 69 years ago
21.04.2022anyone know what this place is in gta?