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EuroCover Water Systems

Hexagonal cover vs Armor Ball AQUA — which to deploy

When does Armor Ball AQUA (spherical) fit better than Hexprotect® AQUA (hexagonal)? An EU buyer's guide for small, irregular, or temporary deployments.

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EuroCover supplies both hexagonal modular covers (Hexprotect® AQUA, Hexofloat®) and the spherical Armor Ball AQUA — this page helps you pick the right format for your EU water-body deployment.

At a glance

Metric Hexagonal floating cover Armor Ball AQUA
Geometry Hexagonal tile Sphere
Typical fit Reservoirs > 1,000 m², long-life industrial deployments Small or irregular water bodies, temporary deployments
Surface coverage 99% effective (Hexprotect® AQUA, AWTT) Typically 70–80% for spherical floating covers
Wind handling Self-ballasting, AWTT-certified to 130+ MPH Susceptible to wind drift; perimeter booms recommended on exposed sites
Install method Tessellate from the shoreline Bulk-pour

EuroCover Water Systems supplies the AWTT cover line into European industrial water sites. Two of those products — the hexagonal Hexprotect® AQUA and the spherical Armor Ball AQUA — answer different deployment shapes. This page is the EU procurement decision aid for picking between them.

When the hexagonal modular cover fits

  • Industrial reservoirs, tailings ponds, and process water tanks at scale (> 1,000 m²).
  • Long-life deployments where 25+ year design life is the dominant criterion.
  • Sites with wind exposure where AWTT’s hurricane-rated wind certification is needed.
  • Potable-water applications requiring NSF/ANSI food-grade documentation.

See Hexprotect® AQUA for the lead hexagonal product, and Hexofloat® for the EU-tooled, AWTT design-approved alternative for shorter EU lead times.

When Armor Ball AQUA fits

  • Smaller water bodies — typically under 500 m².
  • Irregular shorelines that wouldn’t accommodate modular tessellation cleanly.
  • Temporary deployments (fire-suppression storage, construction water tanks).
  • Sites where a perimeter containment boom is acceptable in exchange for very fast bulk-pour installation.

See Armor Ball AQUA for the EU product page.

A note on Armor Ball AQUA data

Armor Ball AQUA performance specifications (sphere diameter, surface coverage, life expectancy, wind handling) are pending founder confirmation; see the Armor Ball AQUA product page for the current status. The product is in EuroCover’s catalog; the marketing data layer is being verified before publication.

When Armor Ball AQUA makes sense

Armor Ball AQUA wins when the water body is too small or too irregular for hexagonal tessellation to lay cleanly — typical thresholds are below 500 m², highly non-rectangular geometries, or temporary deployments where a multi-year design life is overkill. Specific Armor Ball AQUA performance numbers (sphere diameter, life expectancy, wind rating) are pending founder confirmation; see /products/armor-ball-aqua.

Frequently asked questions

Why does EuroCover sell both formats? #
Different deployments need different geometries. Hexagonal modular tiles are the right answer for most EU industrial reservoirs over 1,000 m²; spherical floating covers are the right answer for small or irregularly-shaped water bodies where the modular tessellation would leave too many gaps.
Is Armor Ball AQUA cheaper to install? #
On a small irregular body it can be — the elements pour down a chute and self-distribute, so per-day throughput is high on tight footprints. On large reservoirs the per-element handling slows down the install.
What about wind drift? #
Spherical floating elements are pushed by wind across the water surface, concentrating at the leeward shoreline. Operators on exposed sites use perimeter containment booms — an additional capex and recurring maintenance line. Hexagonal tiles interlock and stay in place by virtue of their tessellation, with no perimeter booms required.
Are spherical floating covers safe for potable water? #
Yes — NSF-compatible spheres are available and have been deployed at scale (the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power deployed roughly 96 million NSF-compatible balls across reservoirs in 2015). For Armor Ball AQUA specifically, NSF/ANSI status is pending founder confirmation.
Where can I see the engineering comparison? #
For the technology-side comparison (sphere vs hex geometry, ballast mechanism, wind-load handling), see the engineering reference at [pond-cover.com/vs/hexagonal-vs-armor-ball](https://pond-cover.com/vs/hexagonal-vs-armor-ball).

Sources & further reading

  • LADWP deployment record — Los Angeles Department of Water and Power deployed approximately 96 million spherical floating elements on Los Angeles reservoirs in 2015.
  • FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56 — Coverage ratio is the dominant driver of evaporation-reduction effectiveness; reduction scales approximately linearly with coverage.