Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Bioplastics Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • PFAS Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
    • Europe - Virgin
    • Europe - Recycled
    • Europe - Feedstock
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
January 03, 2014 01:00 AM

Plastic balls protect California reservoirs

Catherine Kavanaugh
Senior Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
    The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is using millions of four-inch polyethylene balls to cover reservoirs to prevent a potentially dangerous chemical reaction from happening.

    XavierC LLC really has to be on the ball these days.

    The 18-month-old Glendora, Calif.-based manufacturer is getting ready to fill its biggest order yet for 6.4 million four-inch polyethylene balls for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADPW).

    Called shade balls, 80 million of the hollow black orbs are needed to cover the reservoirs in Los Angeles to stop sunlight from triggering a potentially dangerous chemical reaction between bromite, which occurs naturally in groundwater, and the chlorine used to disinfect drinking water.

    Add sunlight to a mix of bromide and chlorine and you get bromate, a suspected carcinogen that threatens water safety for the nation's largest public utility, which has 4 million customers.

    "We knew we had to eliminate one of the three and sunlight was the best way to minimize bromate formation," Melinda Rho, manager of regulatory affairs for the LADWP, said in a telephone interview.

    The utility is spending $24 million on shade balls for the L.A. Reservoir with XavierC LLC joining the two current vendors, Artisan Screen Printing of Azusa, Calif., and Orange Products Inc., of Allentown, Pa.

    "It was impossible for any one company to do," XavierC President Sydney D. Chase said in a telephone interview. "We've been tooling up for a while so we can kick in the volume, be on time to fill our order, and act as a backstop in case another supplier isn't able to meet delivery."

    Shade balls have been around for a while but they were used mostly to keep birds out of water near airport runways, control vapors in industrial ammonia tanks, or stop water from evaporating at petroleum operations. The LADWP pioneered their use to protect water quality.

    Back in 2008, soon after high levels of bromate were detected in the city's Silver Lake and Ivanhoe reservoirs, the utility dropped its first batch of shade balls into the water as a low-cost, maintenance-free solution to the chemical reaction.

    "We give a lot of credit to our own Dr. Brian White — a research biologist in our department who retired last year — for his innovation and imagination," Rho said of his suggestion to try shade balls. "That helped us move quickly to resolve the bromate issue."

    Shade balls cost about 33 cents each. LADWP has been a big customer, buying 3 million to cover the Ivanhoe Reservoir and then 9 million more to shade two other reservoirs as temporary fixes. The L.A. Reservoir — the city's biggest — will get 80 million to blanket its 176-acre surface, most likely on a permanent basis.

    XavierC LLC was awarded its contract in November, said Chase, who started the company 1 1/2 years ago, in part to provide jobs in a still-emerging market for minority, military and female individuals seeking work. The company is named after her business consultant, Xavier Castillo, who lost use of his arms and legs in a car accident 18 years ago.

    "Xavier is a quadriplegic I met through a friend," Chase said. "He has real gumption and fortitude and he's proficient in the areas where I'm weak. He's very good with computers, administrative work and organizing. I'm better at manufacturing, selling and marketing. Between the two of us, it made a whole person."

    To prepare for their $2.4 million order from LADWP, Chase invested about $250,000 in automated blow molders and ancillary downstream equipment, hired 5 additional workers, and lined up a disabled veteran to provide packaging bags and a woman-owned trucking company to handle deliveries.

    "It's going to take like 150 truckloads to deliver so that's 150 days of work for someone," Chase said. "Overall, I'd say this is creating about 15 jobs and in every single aspect we stuck with disabled, minority and military people."

    XavierC LLC started filling the order on Jan. 2.

    "Artisan hired about 80 temporary, full-time employees and they are probably working around the clock putting out these balls," said Rho, who estimates 20 percent of the L.A. Reservoir is covered to date.

    Shade balls are part of the utility's strategy to comply with federal drinking water regulations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requiring all uncovered water distribution reservoirs be covered, replaced with tanks, or treated at the outlets to remove protozoa and bacteria.

    The LADWP is covering three reservoirs, replacing Silver Lake and Ivanhoe with a covered concrete tank in a massive $230 million construction project, and treating water at the outlet of the L.A. Reservoir.

    "The shade balls won't help us with our compliance so to speak but they help us indirectly," Rho said. "They cut down the amount of light, which reduces the amount of algae that can grow, and that reduces the use of chlorine needed to control algae. They also keep the seagulls and migratory birds off so those are all good reasons to use them."

    Right before XavierC LLC got its order from the LADWP, the company sold some of its product — Chase calls them conservation balls — to Mt. Baldy Ski Resort in California, which she believes is another first-time use.

    "They want to protect their costly water from evaporation," Chase said. "They're saving $10,000 a month in water that they purchase and pump up to their snow-making reservoir. It is a unique application. We're reaching out to new customers. Next will be the mining and petroleum industry then waste water."

    She had been in business development for a company that makes plastic, water-filled barriers when she decided to manufacture conservation balls.

    "I could just feel this thing taking off," Chase said. "I think we're going to go for a long ride."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Auto suppliers plan for uncertainty amid UAW strike, shift to EVs
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    An 8,000-ton dream for Milacron, 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics
    2
    Connecticut AG probes recycling claims on HDPE toothpaste tubes
    3
    ACC campaign targets Biden administration's 'troubling' policies
    4
    PureCycle declares force majeure following production problems
    5
    M. Holland selling 3D business after Ravago deal
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Find more newsletters at plasticsnews.com/newsletters.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
      • Podcasts
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Bioplastics Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • PFAS Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
      • Europe - Virgin
      • Europe - Recycled
      • Europe - Feedstock
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified