The MPCA’s Smart Salting trainings provide suggestions to improve operator effectiveness and for reducing chloride pollution while keeping the roads, parking lots, and sidewalks safe. Many organizations have been able to reduce their salt use by 30-70%!
Minnesota waters need a low-salt diet
Doctors tell us to stick to a low-salt diet. Our lakes and streams should follow the same advice. While salt helps to keep our roads safe in the winter, it contains chloride, a water pollutant. It takes only one teaspoon of road salt to permanently pollute five gallons of water. Once in the water, there is no easy way to remove the chloride, and at high concentrations, chloride can harm fish and plant life. Less is more when it comes to applying road salt. The MPCA Smart Salting Certification will teach winter maintenance crews how to reduce pollution while keeping roads, parking lots, and sidewalks safe during snow and ice removal. The MPCA maintains a list of certified individuals/contractors for homeowners and businesses that are looking to hire companies that use best practices.