LSRCA urges everyone to ease up on salt

YorkRegion.com
Jan. 28, 2016
Simon Martin  

Winter also means it’s salt season in Ontario.

We are not talking about salty stews or crunchy bacon, but that salt that is tossed liberally on roads, parking lots and sidewalks to keep us safe.

Approximately 100,000 tonnes of salt is applied to paved surfaces in the Lake Simcoe watershed each year.

This amounts to roughly 500 pounds of salt per person every year. Much of that ends up flowing into watershed creeks and rivers and then into Lake Simcoe.

Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority manager of integrated watershed management Bill Thompson said in recent years chloride levels in the water are getting to be a concern. If there is too much salt content in the water, there are consequences for human and animal health. Fish, for example, can actually become dehydrated if the water is too salty and people on sodium-restricted diets could be adversely affected if drinking water has too much salt content in it.

“There is just so much salt used. Sidewalks and parking lots are part of the issue as well,” he said.

The LSRCA works alongside local municipalities and the private sector to reduce salt usage. Municipalities have been on the issue for close to 10 years, so there is not much room for improvement, Thompson said.

Private contractors are a different story. “A lot of private contractors don’t receive the same level of training the municipal road staff do,” Thompson said.

The LSRCA promotes a program called Smart About Salt that was developed by Waterloo Region. Thompson said the program teaches about how salt works and when and how to apply it most efficiently. “It’s a great chance to train staff relatively cheaply,” he said.

The Town of East Gwillimbury is always looking to see how it can be most efficient in its application of salt.

For the 2014/2015 winter season, the town altered the sand/salt mix to treat roads from 90 per cent sand and 10 per cent salt to a 70/30 mix.

With the new mix, the town applies more salt initially but, typically, only one application is now required instead of two passes.

As a result, there is approximately 25 per cent less salt being applied overall and significantly less sand required compared to previous years. With the success of the revised mix, staff has continued to use the 70/30 mix for the current winter season.

The LSRCA has also suggested excess snow piles in parking lots has significant impact on salt usage. It’s important a catch basin is located near the snow pile, otherwise, Thompson said, the snow pile will melt and water will pool across the parking lot causing safety concerns and result in more salt use.

While homeowners are a very small piece of the puzzle, Thompson said it’s important they are aware of the issue.

“Salt will melt really quickly but it won’t get out of the water ever again,” he said.