--- title: Shade Balls Graphic Shows How Reservoirs Are Being Helped description: In an effort to protect the city's water supply, millions of small black balls have been dumped into the Los Angeles Reservoir. canonical: https://time.com/3998554/shade-balls-graphic/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-14T19:02:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:07.671Z article:section: Science og:title: This Graphic Shows How Plastic Balls Are Saving L.A. From Drought og:description: In an effort to protect the city's water supply, millions of small black balls have been dumped into the Los Angeles Reservoir. og:url: https://time.com/3998554/shade-balls-graphic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Graphic Shows How Plastic Balls Are Saving L.A. From Drought twitter:description: In an effort to protect the city's water supply, millions of small black balls have been dumped into the Los Angeles Reservoir. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Graphic Shows How Plastic Balls Are Saving L.A. From Drought > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=73147fec-1a1e-40fd-980e-7de3e547b563&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California's Drought Problem [Watch (HLS stream): Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California's Drought Problem](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7Yn2cIV0.m3u8) (1:35)  _Published 2015-08-13. Millions of spheres, 4 inches in diameter, are meant to slow water evaporation from Los Angeles reservoirs by simply floating on the water._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) and [Heather Jones](https://time.com/author/heather-jones/) Aug 14, 2015 7:02 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) and [Heather Jones](https://time.com/author/heather-jones/) Aug 14, 2015 7:02 PM UTC The city of Los Angeles has dumped millions of small black balls into the city’s reservoirs in an effort to protect the city’s water supply. The “shade balls” are intended to maintain good water quality and protect against evaporation. It’s one solution to the state of California’s record-breaking drought, and could save the city millions in both water and costs. “As the drought continues, it has never been more important to focus on innovative ways to maintain the highest quality drinking water for our 4 million residents, Los Angeles City Council Mitchell Englander said in a [statement](http://www.ladwpnews.com/go/doc/1475/2578586/MAYOR-GARCETTI-ANNOUNCES-COMPLETION-OF-INNOVATIVE-SHADE-BALL-COVER-PROJECT-AT-LOS-ANGELES-RESERVOIR). But how do they work? Take a look at the graphic below and find out:  ## Transcript What's black, round meant to save water, and cost $ 34. 5 million? [ SOUND ] Well, they're called shade balls and that's exactly what they do. The spheres, four inches in diameter, are meant to cut down on water evaporation from the Los Angeles reservoirs by simply floating on top of the water. By reducing evaporation, the shade balls will conserve. 300 million gallons of water each year, instead of just evaporating into the sky. Oddly enough Californians use this method to conserve water before. It was originally used in 2008 to help with water quality, but the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power discovered it has the added benefit of reducing evaporation off of the reservoir Surface by 85 to 90 %. The 96 million shade balls covering the surface of the Los Angeles reservoir cost about 35 cents each. And while this method seems a bit unorthodox, the mayor says the alternative options are much, much more expensive. For example, according to the mayor's office, building two floating covers over the 175 acre reservoir. Would have cost upwards of $ 300 million, but the LA Department of Water and Power says this plastic is made of high density polyethylene, so it's reportedly not harmful if it touches drinking water. This isn't gonna add to that kind of plastic pollution. No, nothing leaks out of it, nothing gets In the water. The need for something, anything, to help the state's water reserves is pretty drastic. According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, this is California's fourth straight year of severe drought and it's affecting more than 92 % of the state. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3998554/shade-balls-graphic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3998554/shade-balls-graphic/"},"headline":"This Graphic Shows How Plastic Balls Are Saving L.A. 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