Manufacturing requires mineral free water in various stages the production process. Many industrial areas are able to dispose of the brine from softening water in to the sewer systems. These levels of salinated water discharge are poised to be restricted due to their irreversible environmental damaging properties. Water Tech Online states ” The produced brine has… Read more »
Municipalities
DuPage River Salt Creek Workgroup Newsletter
Congratulations to the National APWA Excellence in Snow & Ice Award Winner The Village of Buffalo Grove! The newsletter details what and how they achieved such an industry prestigious award. “After their annual review, the Village of Buffalo Grove Public Works Department revised their winter maintenance plan for 2014 – 2015 to achieve the highest… Read more »
What is The REAL Cost of Salt Use for Deicing?
This presentation created by Carolyn Dindorf-Fortin Consulting, Inc. for the Road Salt Symposium 2015, details the REAL cost of road salt usage for snow and ice control. The study adds up all the possible secondary costs of salt and the damage it may cause. For every ton of salt applied to city roads, it can cost… Read more »
Residential Wells and Chlorides Levels
While some negative impacts of over salting roads, like damaged vegetation, can be seen as soon as Spring arrives, other terrible effects are hidden below the surface. For example, elevated levels of salt in residential wells and water supplies. Even while using the federal standard application rate of ~300lbs per lane mile, the highly saline… Read more »
Road Salt and the Salinization of Lakes
The awareness of chloride contamination in our natural waterways is growing exponentially! Unfortunately so are the amounts of chlorides in our waterways. Extrapolating that finding for all of North America, at least 7,770 lakes are at risk of elevated salt levels — a likely underestimate, the researchers said. We need a grassroots movement to educate… Read more »
DANGEROUSLY SALTY FRESH WATER? IT IS HAPPENING.
There is no denying the urban sprawl in America is spreading. Researchers found startling data in freshwater lakes of the Northern United Sates. Too many chlorides in salt can do damage to many areas of life, from killing off plants and trees or stunting reproduction of beneficial animal to environmental catastrophes like Flint, Michigan. Researchers… Read more »
Pavement De-icing: How to go “Greener” with Magnesium Chloride Liquids vs. Sodium Chloride Brine
For over 70 years, we have used sodium chloride(rock salt) to manage ice on roadways. 70 years ago there were only 32,000,000 vehicles on the roadways compared to over 250,000,000 today, an 800% increase. Needless to say, keeping driving surfaces clean has become 10 fold the job as it use to. Chloride emissions have also… Read more »
Preventing Chloride Damage To Your Landscape
Snow and Ice management costs money to keep your patrons, residents and clients properties safe. Aside from the costs associated with ice melt and snow removal there are hidden costs. One potential big expense we see often is vegetation damage from salt, ice melt applications and snow melt runoff. There are procedures you can follow… Read more »
Application Rates Based On Temperature
Packaged ice melt generally has a “works to” temperature written on the bag. While bulk salt doesn’t have a label, anyone in the industry knows that bulk rock salt will melt to, at best, +5°F. Do you need the same amount of salt per area to melt ice at +25°F that you would for +5°F?… Read more »
Application Rates – Rock Salt
Salting parking lots is the most profitable aspect of snow management. Getting the most melting out of your salt while having less over-salting, will increase profitability and will reduce harmful chloride emissions. There are ways to reduce contractor created hazards that require extra salting and labor. We have compiled data from the most in depth… Read more »
How To Properly Store Your Salt Stockpile
By the time salt is spread on roads, it can already be millions of years old. Thankfully for motorists and snow removal companies, intact salt never loses its ability to melt ice, which means salt does not have to be used immediately. Salt that has been stored is just as effective as the salt that… Read more »