Hold the salt: Organization asks Wisconsinites to cut down on use of rock salt this winter to keep state waters clean

A Wisconsin group is campaigning to encourage businesses, local governments and  residents to cut down on de-icing salt this winter, to protect the state's surface and drinking water. 

Saltwise was formed about 10 years ago in Madison to combat increasing concentrations of sodium chloride in streams and lakes in the area, in addition to groundwater, which is commonly used in Wisconsin as drinking water. 

"They wanted to make sure that the operators putting down salt are aware that salt is a permanent pollutant in our water, and to work to use it as needed, rather than just thinking oh, deicing is good and more is better," said Allison Madison, the sustainability and development coordinator for the organization. 

Since then, Saltwise and its partners have been working to educate those who apply salt to roads, parking lots and sidewalks on how little salt is actually needed to melt ice, and the ways to make smaller amounts of ice stretch longer. 

Salt is harming Wisconsin waters 

Even though we regularly use it to season our food, salt in large quantities can actually be a toxic pollutant. 

In Wisconsin, when too much salt is put down during the winter months, it can get into water and wreak havoc on the ecosystems below the surface. 

"It stresses out freshwater organisms. Just like we need to drink fresh water, freshwater organisms need to be moving through fresh water," Madison said. "And the saltier it gets, the more it stresses out their systems." 

Particularly impacted by high levels of salt in the water are the microscopic zooplankton, which feed on algae. When the zooplankton are exposed to too much salt, they die off, and algae blooms can become more frequent or worse. 

"We see murkier waters as it becomes saltier," she said. 

Fish can also be impacted, with reduced rates of growth and reproduction within salty water. 

Saltier water can also interrupt the natural turnover of water, Madison said. The salted water is denser than freshwater, which means when it flows in from a stream or creek, it settles to the bottom of a lake. 

"As that happens, we get this dense, cold, kind of salty layer at the bottom of the lake, and that inhibits the seasonal turnover, and that movement helps to circulate oxygen and nutrients throughout the water column," she said. "And we do have lakes, thank goodness not in Wisconsin, but in Minnesota and New York state, where this has happened and the water has gotten so salty the water doesn't turnover." 

In addition to the water flowing through Wisconsin's lakes, rivers and streams, groundwater is now being impacted, too. In some cities, Madison said, water utilities are considering shutting down drinking water wells after high levels of sodium chloride have been found in the water people are consuming and cooking with. 

"We eat salt, right, and it seems fine," Madison said. "And we think it's blasé to see mountains of salt in the winter, but we've been doing that year after year, decade after decade, and now the salt in our groundwater are building up, and they're not just going to go back down to zero next year." 

There are ways to cut down on road salt use

Across the state, cities are working to cut down on the amount of salt they're using during the winter. 

Among those who have gotten involved are Wausau, Superior, Sheboygan, Portage, De Pere and Cudahy. 

And while there is no "silver bullet" solution to switching out salt, there are ways that organizations and local governments can cut down on their use. That can mean removing snow from sidewalks and parking lots before it has time to get packed down, and only using de-icer if there is snowpack left after snow removal. 

Making sure the equipment used to spread the salt is correctly calibrated is really important, too, and something Saltwise is working to help with. 

"That way they have a sense of how much salt they're putting down in a given surface area," Madison said. 

Municipalities are also starting to switch to using salt brine more often, which is a mix of de-icing salt and water that can be spread on roads before snow even starts to fall. 

"If we put brine on our roads beforehand, it's like putting oil on your skillet so your spatula moves through and the food comes right up," she said. "Brine can lead to total reduction in overall salt use." 

Brine can also be applied at the same time as a smaller quantity of rock salt, Madison said, which helps the rock salt stick where it falls. That way, the salt doesn't bounce off the road into nearby grass. Each year, an estimated 30% of rock salt applied without brine bounces off the road. 

"Doing these precision applications have allowed municipalities to really reduce their salt use," Madison said. 

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is working to cut down on the amount of sodium chloride it is using, said Kristin McHugh, director for the office of public affairs. 

Over the past few years, the department has helped to install 26 high-capacity brine makers statewide, and grown the amount of liquid treatments on highways from 4 million gallons in 2015-2016 to 11.5 million gallons last winter. Testing the use of salt brine has shown significant reductions in the amount of salt put onto roads. 

"This past winter several counties illustrated that significant salt reductions could be achieved county wide," McHugh said in an email. "The most significant was found in Langlade and Jefferson counties; both with more than a 50% reduction in salt use."

How you can help to cut down on salt 

Are you preparing for winter with a new bag of salt next to the door this winter? To apply it, grab a 20-ounce mug or cup. That's all that's needed for a 20-foot driveway or sidewalk, Madison said. 

And when you spread salt, there shouldn't be any remaining chunks on the sidewalk after the ice has been melted away. 

"Try to use less salt and just scatter those grains more widely," Madison said. "And give it a little bit of time to work." 

Salt can be avoided altogether by early snow removal. Shovel, sweep or blow the snow from your sidewalk or driveway first, to avoid ice from forming. And if the sidewalk is already packed down with snow you can't remove, try spreading sand to give traction instead of adding copious amounts of salt. 

Interested in learning more about Saltwise? Visit wisaltwise.com. 

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura.