Jun 9, 2008 9:36 pm US/Pacific
400,000 Balls Get Dumped In Silver Lake Reservoir
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
Hundreds of thousands of shimmering black plastic balls have been dumped into one of LA's last remaining open-air reservoirs to prevent a sunlight-fueled chemical reaction that can harm the water supply.
Workers unleashed 400,000 of the hollow, 4-inch "shade balls" down a slope to cover the surface of the Ivanhoe Reservoir, which provides water to parts of downtown, central and south Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power drained two of its six remaining open-air reservoirs because a rare sunlight-and-chlorine reaction tainted the water with bromate, a cancer-causing chemical.
The balls are a temporary fix while the city completes an underground water storage project in Griffith Park to replace the open-air reservoirs.
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