Southern California resort is first to install hollow plastic balls to conserve reservoir water
MT BALDY, Calif., Dec. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — California's Mt Baldy Ski Lifts Inc is the first ski area in the world to install hollow plastic conservation balls in their reservoir to reduce water evaporation.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131202/PH25526-a )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131202/PH25526-b )
The water-filled conservation balls are 4" in diameter and act as a floating cover to reduce water evaporation by up to 90%.
"Water reservoir evaporation costs us $120,000 a year. Reservoir evaporation is the water equivalent of money going up in smoke," states Ron Ellingson, President of Mt Baldy Ski Lifts.
Mt Baldy operates a 10 million gallon reservoir used mainly for snow making during the ski season. The large reservoir is fed by a smaller 1 million gallon one further down the mountain. This reservoir is filled from natural underground wells. The expense to pump water up the mountain from the smaller to the larger reservoir is $10,000 a month. This amount would be significantly higher if they had to pay for the water.
"The cost of water evaporation is a hidden expense. Unlike payroll, insurances and food costs, water evaporation doesn't show up as a line item on the balance sheet and therefore can easily be ignored. But it is a very real and very big expense. I didn't realize how big until we heard about hollow conservation balls," said Ellingson.
Two main causes of water evaporation in reservoirs are temperature and surface area. The hollow plastic conservation balls address these two issues effectively and inexpensively. By their nature, the conservation balls re-arrange themselves to fit any size and shape reservoir. As water levels drop the conservation balls accommodate the situation by stacking on themselves. When water level rise, the balls return to single layer on the surface.
Ellingson continues, "Unlike other types of reservoir covers, once the conservation balls are installed they are maintenance free."
Mt Baldy Ski Lifts signed a contract with XavierC LLC to supply the conservation balls in September. Sydney D. Chase, President of XavierC LLC states, "We are excited to be working with a ski area as this opens up a brand new marketing channel for us. Our regular clients are Cities and Municipalities that utilize hollow conservation balls to reduce reservoir evaporation."
"We are excited that Mt Baldy is the flagship for conservation balls in the ski industry. By industry standards our reservoir is small, so resorts with larger ones will save far more money," concluded Ellingson.
XavierC LLC recently secured a $2.4 million contract to supply conservation balls to the L.A. Department of Water and Power for use in the Los Angeles Reservoir. XavierC LLC is based in Glendora, CA.
For more information about XavierC LLC and their hollow plastic water-filled conservation balls please call 626-385-8262 or go to http://www.reduceskiareareservoirevaporation.com/index.html
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