FYI the shade balls aren't primarily about conserving water; that's just a side-benefit. There's a Veritasium video about it. The shade balls are primarily to

FYI the shade balls aren't primarily about conserving water; that's just a side-benefit. There's a Veritasium video about it. The shade balls are primarily to prevent the water's antibacterial chemicals from interacting with sunlight and becoming poisonous. This became necessary after some recent upstream changes in the process.