# Black Balls in Los Angeles Reservoir **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699 "2015-08-12T23:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699/21 "2015-08-14T13:24:36Z")
Stupid question: Wouldn’t white balls reflect more sunshine and work better? ---
**Author:** ![iceiso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@iceiso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iceiso)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699/22 "2015-08-14T13:54:23Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I want to know if the color blue was even considered. I see what you did there!😛 ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699/23 "2015-08-14T14:04:13Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > There could have been an opening at the top of the shipping container as well. But I think your idea is correct - you can elevate a trailer all the way to straight up with the right equipment, right? One can see the truck has an open roof in your video. [Through the doors there’s daylight.] Anyway the whole thing is very clever. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699/24 "2015-08-14T14:18:47Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > One can see the truck has an open roof in your video. [Through the doors there’s daylight.] Yeah I noticed that. I imagine the manufacturer stores new balls in a silo; the truck drives under and they fill it like they do corn. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699/25 "2015-08-14T14:43:25Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Sorry, but the thread title ‘ **Black Balls: Los Angeles Reservoir** ’ sounds so much like an entry in a 70s Blaxploitation / Porno series\*!\* :eek: And the sequel: Black Balls Matter! ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699/26 "2015-08-14T19:08:57Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Stupid question: Wouldn’t white balls reflect more sunshine and work better? You didn’t read the whole thread, did you? ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699/27 "2015-08-14T21:48:22Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > You didn’t read the whole thread, did you? They didn’t even bother to read the entire OP! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699/28 "2015-08-15T11:01:31Z")
What I find really weird about this is that I read in the 1970’s that you _could not_ use ping pong balls to reduce evaporation because they spun in the wind, increasing evaporation by transporting a thin layer of water up to where it couldn’t mix with the colder water of the lake. The 1970’s was pre-snopes. Was the idea that ping-pong balls had been tried and failed just an urban myth? Can you put shade balls on your pool? ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699/29 "2015-08-15T12:24:15Z")
The Armour Balls are 4 inches in diameter, so this probably makes a significant difference compared to a ping-pong ball. They are also a lot thicker walled. As to white balls, they are probably viable - these balls are basically coloured with carbon black. Using titanium dioxide would make for UV resistant white balls. They would be essentially opaque, so they would get the anti-algae properties. TiO[sub]2[/sub] is about twice the price of carbon black per unit weight, and twice the density. So might about 4 times the price as carbon black. No idea about how bad the second order issues of using it might be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-balls-in-los-angeles-reservoir/727699.md?page=1)