Each year in Minnesota, we spread about 445,000 tons of de-icing salts on our roads, sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots. These road salts are made of chloride and are the number one cause of chloride pollution in Minnesota waterways and groundwater. But there are ways to prevent further chloride pollution.
De-icing with chloride salts is a common practice for many Minnesotans, but we now know that road salts are polluting our waterways, leaving more and more lakes impaired for chloride pollution.
Even a small amount of salt can cause a lot of harm. It only takes one teaspoon of salt to pollute five gallons of water permanently. There is no practical way to remove salt from the environment, meaning that once salt enters the waterways, it’s there for good and builds up year after year.
For property managers/owners, sustainability, environmental, and safety coordinators, and those who hire or supervise winter maintenance staff, de-icing walkways and parking lots is an all too common practice. However, road salts are often over-applied to clear walkways, even though salt becomes chemically ineffective sub 15° Fahrenheit. Annual salt application is also expensive and time-intensive. Moreover, road salts are highly corrosive to our infrastructure, creating more need for repairs.
The best way to prevent chloride pollution, save money, and time is to become MPCA Smart Salting certified. The South Washington Watershed District has sponsored a training specifically for property managers, which will provide specialized information and training for property managers/owners, sustainability, environmental, and safety coordinators, and those who hire or supervise winter maintenance crews. The free training will instruct on more efficient forms of operation, how smart salting can save money, best practices for salt and snow storage, understanding legal issues around salting and liability laws, how to reduce complaints, and how smart salting protects Minnesota’s water resources.
This virtual training will occur on December 10th, from 9 AM to 1:30 PM. By the end of the training, participants who pass the certification exam will be Smart Salting certified for 3 years!
Questions? Contact Abby Tekiela, Water Resources Program Coordinator, [email protected].