U of G researching smart salt trucks, managing waterborne diseases - Guelph News

Improving winter road safety and reshaping how we control waterborne diseases are the themes of two University of Guelph research projects that have received funding through the Ontario Research Fund.

As part of more than $92 million invested by the provincial government, two University of Guelph research projects have received funding. 

The Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence (ORF-RE) program provides funding to research institutions such as universities, colleges, research institutes and research hospitals across the province.  

At U of G, improving winter road safety and reshaping the control of waterborne diseases are the two projects being supported. 

“This investment will support our researchers as they create cutting-edge, sustainable solutions to enhance the capabilities of Ontario’s infrastructure and public health sectors,” said Shayan Sharif, interim vice-president, research and innovation.

 “We thank the Government of Ontario for helping us transform these discoveries into solutions that promote health and safety in our communities.”  

Bahram Gharabaghi, professor in the School of Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, will develop the next generation of ‘smart’ salt trucks designed to improve road safety, reduce traffic accidents and mitigate environmental concerns associated with road salt during the winter.

According to a recent U of G release, currently, salt trucks in Ontario are operated manually. Drivers use hands-on controls to dispense salt and brine and adjust the rate and amount being applied while operating plow blades and watching the road at the same time. 

The planning process for salt application is also manual. 

Gharabaghi said a lack of automation and consistency can lead to challenges. Roads remain slippery without enough salt and overapplication wastes resources. Also, overapplication near vulnerable areas, such as freshwater sources, may be contaminated by road salt, resulting in runoff that can harm ecosystems.  

The tools being developed by Gharabaghi and his team, including Amir Aliabadi and Ed McBean, professors in the school of engineering, will equip trucks with real-time, mobile road, weather and surface monitoring technology for precision salt application. 

Built-in, remotely operated control systems will apply salt and brine at optimum rates and combinations that are automatically calculated using road condition sensors, a vehicle’s GPS location and weather forecasts for that area. 

Together, these technologies will help to make driving safer, save resource costs and protect ecological areas. 

David McCarthy, professor in the School of Environmental Sciences, Ontario Agricultural College and Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Waterborne Pathogens: Surveillance, Prediction and Mitigation, will develop innovative technologies that will enable earlier detection and better control of waterborne diseases.  

In the recent university release, McCarthy said current disease surveillance methods for water systems are limited. Poor sampling methods, expensive and time-consuming analytical methods, and incorrect identification of disease sources can reduce the efficiency of management strategies aiming to control pathogens in our waters. 

Without fully understanding where they come from, how they travel and where they end up, this can lead to costly mistakes and persistent health risks. Traditional water treatment methods are also expensive and often harmful to the environment. 

McCarthy and his team will develop accessible, integrated solutions for the surveillance, prediction and treatment of waterborne pathogens. 

These include technologies that can detect pathogens and their sources in near real-time, which is critical for disease risk reduction, modelling tools for pathogen tracking and risk assessment so that health organizations can respond to threats more accurately. 

The project will also allow for sustainable, cost-effective water infrastructure treatment systems to better control infectious agents in agriculture, recreation and drinking water scenarios.  

The Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure (ORF-RI) program’s Small Infrastructure Fund co-funds with the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). Other U of G researchers also receiving these matching funds were awarded JELF funding in August 2023 and September 2024. 

The ORF-RI program provides research institutions with funding to help support infrastructure needs, including modern facilities and equipment.  

Does NYC have enough salt for the winter? Snow doubt. - Gothamist

New York City’s sanitation department is sitting on a veritable mountain of road salt thanks to a run of relatively snow-free winters.

City officials on Wednesday said that’s a sign the city is prepared for even the nastiest of blizzards this year.

Sanitation officials gave reporters a tour of the department’s massive garage on Spring Street in Manhattan, where they showed off an arsenal of snow-fighting equipment, including plows and salt spreaders. Across the street, a heap of salt sat inside a city-owned shed, part of the city’s roughly 350,000-ton stockpile of road salt. But as winters in the city continue to grow more mild, all that equipment and material is being used less and less.

New York City recorded a combined 15 inches of snow over the last two winters, according to data from the Office of Management and Budget. The two prior winters combined for roughly 62 inches of snow, data shows.

The decline in snowfall — which experts said is connected to climate change — has nonetheless saved taxpayers money. The city reduced its budget for snow removal by $25 million this fiscal year, but officials noted they could flex more money into salting and plowing during an emergency.

Still, sanitation employees said they’re not asleep behind the plow wheel.

“ Many people think it doesn't snow in New York City anymore,” said acting Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan, who started his career collecting trash and plowing snow in the 1990s. “Those people are wrong. Last year, 13 inches of snow fell across the five boroughs. And while winter is unpredictable, we have to be ready.”

Sanitation officials said they’ve also ordered new snow fighting equipment, including more miniature snowplows that can also spread salt as they clear bike lanes and pedestrian spaces.

The agency has also added large trucks that spread brine to prevent snow from building up to its snow fighting fleet.

“ The addition of brine and liquid salt that adheres to the roadway is one of the key snow fight innovations of the last few years,” Lojan said.

Salt harming watersheds - Ontario OUT of DOORS

Much effort is put into keeping our roads, sidewalks, and parking lots safe when winter storms bring snow and ice. We obviously need to limit vehicle collisions and slips and falls. The downside is that road salt entering our rivers and lakes ultimately harms flora and fauna.

Sodium chloride (NaCl) is the predominant de-icer, making up 97% of total usage due to its cost, abundance, and effectiveness. Calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and potassium chloride make up the remaining salts. Road salt acts by lowering the freezing point of water, creating ice melt below water’s normal freezing point of 0˚C. Sodium chloride salt is not effective below -100˚C.

Road salt is soluble and dissolves in run-off water adjacent to roads, parking lots, and sidewalks. This water with elevated levels of chloride enters storm drains, ditches, and culverts, and flows onto the earth as soil water or penetrates deeper as groundwater. Water also flows overland into streams, ponds, and lakes. Based on the yearly addition of chloride, these salinity levels increase annually.

Assessing the damage

A 2020 University of Toronto Study by Jackson and Lawson measured chloride concentration at more than 200 sites on the Humber and Don rivers and Mimico and Etobicoke creeks. Almost 90% of the samples exceeded federal guidelines for long-term chronic exposure for aquatic life.

These samples taken during the summer indicate the slow transfer of groundwater carrying winter soluble chlorides. The study shows road salt is a year-round threat to watersheds. The results also show that one-third of the sites had levels that would be lethal to two-thirds of aquatic species.

An international research study co-led by Dr. Shelley Arnott of Queens University in Kingston examined human-induced salt pollution in lakes.

Study sites throughout Europe and North America, including the Lake Ontario watershed, showed that widespread salinity had created loss of zooplankton, which in turn led to unwanted increases in algae formation and subsequent lake oxygen depletion. Major damage is being done to freshwater lakes by salt concentrations at salt levels much below that of guideline levels established by government agencies, the study concluded.

The Lake Simcoe Region Concentration Authority (LSRCA) has also been monitoring chloride levels for years. The actual chloride level of Lake Simcoe has been increasing steadily at a rate of .7 milligrams per litre annually.

LSCRA researchers found that in nearby streams and rivers, particularly in urban areas, salinity levels regularly exceeded short- and long-term guidelines established by the Canadian government.

Monitoring of road salts

In 1995, the federal government recognized the harms being done by road salt and initiated an assessment report culminating in the 2004 Code of Practice for Environmental Management of Road Salts. A second review of the code was completed in 2022.

The assessment confirmed increased chloride levels were responsible for harmful adverse effects on aquatic species, terrestrial vegetation, wildlife mortality, and soil chemistry. Recommendations included management of storage facilities, roadway application, and snow disposal, with a focus on maximizing human safety while minimizing potential harm to the environment.

All road authorities in Ontario are encouraged to implement salt management plans and identify actions they will take to improve practices related to storage and application. Whereas road authorities both provincial and municipal need to follow regulations regarding maintenance procedures this is not the case for independent contractors working on private and commercial properties.

An area of concern for contractors is the possibility of litigation if there ever is an accident. Overuse of salt is the normal reaction. Excess use of road salt on private property is estimated to make up more than 50% of total salinity concentration in watersheds of the Great Lakes.

Zooplankton impact key

Of particular concern is that research shows road salt has a toxic effect on zooplankton, key members of the food web. Not only is zooplankton food for fish, it keeps algae levels somewhat under control. An increase in algae levels creates a corresponding reduction in oxygen levels of lakes. A decrease in zooplankton levels reduces growth rates of various fish species and will inhibit optimal reproductive success.

There is no disputing the evidence that the status quo of road salt application is not acceptable.

Each year our freshwater rivers and lakes are being progressively contaminated. If we as stakeholders ignore the immediacy of the problem, it could be too late to save our freshwater ecosystems.

What can be done

There’s no simple solution. For the time being, there is a salt dependency based on the need for safety. Actions we can take include:

• Continued research and scientific studies to identify areas of salt contamination in Great Lakes watersheds
• Experimental use of alternative de-icers. Some municipalities in Ontario have used beet juice and other products, with mixed results. Use of a sand/rock salt mix has not been encouraging. More experimentation is in progress
• Support for organizations such as the Smart About Salt Council which offers training and certification for private contractors
• Pre-wetting roadways with brine can help salt stick and not create excess waste on shoulders
• Commercial property guidelines which substantially reduce the rate of salt application
• Use embedded roadway sensors to provide information on air and pavement temperatures to help decide when salting is needed
• Calibrate spreader controls on salting equipment and keep accurate records of dispersal
• Property owners should apply salt on sidewalks and driveways at a minimal rate and consider using a mix with sand.

Other reasons why salt sucks:

• Infrastructure including steel foundations of buildings and bridges suffer corrosion and rust. The Gardiner Expressway in Toronto is an example.
• Not great for vehicles.
• Plants and animals in freshwater can tolerate fluctuations in salinity but reproduction, growth rates, reduced food sources, and habitat impairment can be issues.
• Salt concentration in soil can cause flushing, reducing nutrients needed by vegetation.
• Invasive saltwater species have an easier entry into Ontario’s waterways and adapt faster.
• In areas with groundwater-fed drinking wells, increased chloride could be dangerous for individuals on a sodium-reduced diet.

Approximately five million tonnes of road salt are applied in Canada each year, according to the federal government.

Marion using a salt and molasses mixture to keep roads clear this winter | The Gazette

MARION — The city of Marion is using a new salt mixture to melt ice off roads and sidewalks this winter. The secret ingredient? Molasses.

The same molasses used in cooking and baking is now mixed in with some of the city’s salt supply and distributed throughout town.

The new blend — called “Magic-0” from Skyline Salt Solutions — includes molasses and some added calcium chloride to make the salt stick to the road surface and activate at colder temperatures.

Mike Barkalow, Marion’s public services and utilities director, said this salt mixture will be more environmentally friendly.

“By using the salt with the molasses in it, it will help the salt stick to the pavement, so there’s less salt being used, rather than it going straight into the streams,” Barkalow said.

In recent decades, road salt has been blamed for higher salt concentrations and increased alkaline levels in rivers and streams.

According to a 2018 study by the U.S. Geological Survey, of the 232 U.S. streams and rivers monitored across the country, 34 percent showed increased sodium levels and 66 percent had increased alkaline.

Barkalow said because the molasses helps the salt stick to the road surface, the city anticipates it will be able to use less salt, which also could benefit rivers and streams.

The salt mixture comes pretreated. Typical dry salt has to make contact with water to activate, Barkalow said. But for the molasses salt, the city creates a brine by adding water, which makes the salt scatter less once it is deployed on the roads.

A typical dry road salt becomes ineffective when the temperature drops below 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

“If our road temperature is really cold, it doesn’t matter how much salt we throw at it, it’s not going to melt,” Barkalow said.

But with the sodium chloride added in, the salt will be effective in much colder temperatures, like minus 15-degree weather, Barkalow said.

Marion isn’t the only city taking advantage of this new molasses mixture.

Michael Duffy, assistant public works director for the City of Cedar Rapids, said the city has been testing the same mixture.

“Cedar Rapids has used a number of different materials based on the type of event, taking into consideration the duration, pavement temperature, air temperature and location of application,” Duffy said in an email to The Gazette on Monday. We utilize this treated salt during extreme cold when the salt is less effective.”

‘Another tool in the toolbox’

Despite the salt being more effective in colder temperatures and sticking to the ground better, Barkalow said the molasses mixture won’t be used every time Marion has a winter weather event.

Barkalow said the best option after snowfall is to remove the snow with snowblowers and plows, so the city will continue to use those methods. But when ice remains on the road surface after snow has been removed, Marion will use the salt mixture.

“We are looking at this just as another tool in our toolbox,” Barkalow said. “We are still learning, too.”

Marion first deployed the new salt mixture after the snowfall earlier this month. For this past weekend’s ice storm that hit much of Eastern Iowa late Friday night and into Saturday, Barkalow said the city put salt on roads prior to the storm to “pretreat” them.

Matt Morris, the operational and street maintenance manager for Marion’s Public Works Department, said the city used about 50 tons of treated salt to de-ice from Saturday’s ice storm.

He said they used the molasses mixture on primary and secondary roads, but used regular salt on residential streets.

In Cedar Rapids, Duffy said the city pretreated the roads with the salt mixture before the ice came because it is “easier to fight the ice buildup.”

The “salt is not applied to melt the ice formed, rather to break the bond between pavement and ice so it can be removed,” Duffy said.

This isn’t the first time Linn County cities have experimented with salt mixtures to de-ice roads better.

The City of Cedar Rapids uses beet juice to help salt stay in place on the roads. It’s estimated the beet juice reduces the salt’s “scattering” effect by 30 percent and could save Cedar Rapids about $25,000 per year in materials.

“The beet juice does not have any specific melting properties but does help the material stay in place longer and at colder temperatures,” Duffy said.

Barkalow said Skyline Salt brought its mixing system to Marion’s public works facility and treated 1,000 tons of salt with the molasses and calcium chloride mix. The measurements of calcium chloride and molasses in the salt is proprietary, and must be done by the company.

The city also still keeps untreated salt on hand for use on city streets.

Olivia Cohen covers energy and environment for The Gazette and is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Comments: (319) 398-8370; olivia.cohen@thegazette.com

Surrey snow-clearing crews are ready with a 17,000-tonne mountain of salt - Surrey Now-Leader

An online Plow Tracker and live-streaming traffic cameras are among tools and equipment used in Surrey to help residents prepare for winter driving. 

When snow falls, residents can check surrey.ca/snow to see which roads have been plowed and also track the city's 77-unit fleet of snow-clearing, de-icing trucks, backhoes and tractors.

City crews appear ready for winter at Surrey Works Yard, off 148 Street, where a floor-to-ceiling mountain of road salt (17,000 tonnes of it) is stored in a shed, along with road-brining solution.

All that salt might be needed if meteorologists are correct with forecasts of a colder, wetter winter in Metro Vancouver.

"You could boil a lot of pasta water with that pile of salt," joked Yonatan Yohannes, Surrey's director of engineering operations, a job he'll have for a second winter.

Ensuring 4,200 kilometres of Surrey roads are safe and passable this winter "is a top priority for the City of Surrey,” Mayor Brenda Locke said during a Dec. 5 news conference.

"We all have a role to play in helping keep our community safe this winter," Locke added. "Please do your part to clear snow and ice from sidewalks outside your home and prepare your vehicle for winter driving.”  

The city works yard is also home to Surrey's traffic camera network and road/weather information system, used for snow-removal efforts.

Surrey uses a three-level route priority system, first focused on arterial roads, major collector roads, bus routes and hilly areas.

Some of Surrey's major routes, including highways 10, 15 and 17, are of provincial snow-clearing concern for crews of Mainroad Contracting, Yohannes noted.

"We are in constant communications with those contractors to make sure all roads are taken care of, because at the end of the day it's our residents who drive those areas, those streets," he said.

Details about Surrey's Winter Snow & Ice Control Operations are posted on surrey.ca/snow. Residents can report a snow or ice problem by calling 604-591-4152, or call 604-591-4370 to report un-shovelled properties in Surrey.

Those who don't clear snow off sidewalks may be fined under City of Surrey’s Highway and Traffic Bylaw at rates of $80 per day (businesses) and $55 per day (residential).

Speaking of money, the Surrey engineering department’s 2024 winter maintenance budget is $4.61 million, $2.74 of which has been spent since January, according to a Snow and Ice Operations report to city council in November. "If seasonal temperatures remain favourable for the balance of the winter season, the Engineering Department will likely be within the allocated budget for 2024," the report notes.

Road salt use during Chicago winters has dropped with climate change, but city remains mindful of usage - CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The City of Chicago goes to great lengths to keep its roads safe and clear during the winter—but how it is done has changed with the changing weather.

Records show that the city's salt usage has dropped over the years. Last year, the city used less salt than at any point in the last 10 years.

Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation crews prepare for winter 11 months of the year.

"In Chicago weather, you never know what's going to happen," said Department of Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Cole Stallard.

Stallard has seen more than 20 Chicago winters on the job. That means a firsthand look at how the winters have changed.

"We're here," Stallard said. "We're seeing change happening. We're seeing weather changing."

With a changing climate, experts say extreme weather changes are to be expected moving forward.

The amount of salt the city has used over the years tells the same changing story. In the winter of 2020-2021, the city used a total of 322,000 tons of salt, while during winter 2023-2024, only 119,500 tons were used.

Meanwhile, while salt use has dropped, being mindful about usage is still top-of-mind in Chicago and across Illinois. Too much road salt in waterways can contaminate drinking water, kill or endanger wildlife, increase soil erosion, and damage property, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning echoes the call for less salt—or being smarter about use, while the Salt Smart Collaborative offers tips and resources for everyone on how to salt responsibly.

"We are mindful of that," said Stallard. "We'll on what we call the air—the radio—and say, 'Make sure you adjust your spread.'"

CBS News Chicago also got a close look at one of the alternatives being used on our roads right now-beet juice.

"We actually make it ourselves," said Stallard.

Beet juice is not a replacement for salt—it is primarily used only at the beginning and end of winter. But Stallard said it is making a difference.

"You don't want to step in it," said Stallard. "You don't want to bring it into your car, because it doesn't smell the greatest." 

The trucks that spread beet juice focus on bridges, overpasses, and DuSable Lake Shore Drive.

Chicago has more than 400,000 tons of salt on hand right now.

Some 'eco-friendly' de-icers are as harmful as road salt, so what else is there? - The Weather Network

The concept of less damaging, “eco-friendly” de-icers is welcomed as a step in the right direction, but new data has shown that at least some of them actually tend to be worse than the road salt they were intended to replace.

A group of biologists from Queen’s University examined the effects of salt levels in freshwater habitats from de-icer runoffs, comparing them to some of the more eco-friendly labelled solutions such as beet juice, according to a news release. Only minimal effects on the communities were uncovered, including bacterial and zooplankton at high road salt concentrations, but researchers discovered more significant alterations with the more modern concoctions.

DON'T MISS: Is road salt hurting salmon? UBC and volunteers are investigating

More details on the impacts are included in a recent study published in the journal, Water.

The main reason the alternative de-icers such as sugar beet juice aren't as advertised is because of the sodium chloride they contain, according to Shelley Arnott, a professor and researcher at Queen's University.

"These de-icers are really just road salt with some additives. I think the problem is that some of those additives can actually be more harmful than the salt," said Arnott, in a recent interview with The Weather Network.

Two de-icers examined by researchers

The Queen's University researchers tested two types of alternative de-icers, both of which contain sodium chloride as the major component. However, one of them also has a beet juice additive and the other contains magnesium and calcium chloride, as well.

"What we found was that the product with the beet juice additive was actually way more toxic to zooplankton. Zooplankton are kind of an intermediate level of the food web, so they're really important in transferring energy from the algae, [which] are the primary producers. So, it transfers that algae up to higher trophic levels, like fish," said Arnott.

She said zooplankton are thought of as "really critical" links in the ecosystems, so if something is affecting them negatively, then it's most likely impacting the entire food web chain.

Meanwhile, Arnott noted that the beet juice brine still caused a negative impact on the zooplankton with a much smaller amount of it when compared to the road salt with sodium chloride, and the alternative de-icer with the sodium, magnesium and calcium chloride.

"Being affected at lower concentrations (referring to chloride concentrations) means that it doesn’t take as much to cause mortality or reduce reproduction," said Arnott.

To conduct the tests, researchers isolated the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from the "little ponds that we made," allowing them to see all of the bacteria living in the water, according to Virginia Walker, Arnott's colleague and fellow Queen's University professor.

"What we found was that the bacteria that need oxygen to survive were gone, and those bacteria that cause bad smells and everything that don't need oxygen to survive, they're the ones that were left," said Walker, in a recent interview with The Weather Network.

Problems with beet juice as a de-icer

One reason why road salt alternatives with beet juice additives are used is they tend to stick to the road a "bit better" and you don't have to apply it as often, Arnott said.

The juice from sugar beets lowers the melting point of ice and snow, helping to clear your driveway. It’s also used to melt ice and snow on municipal roads in some areas.

"The idea is that you would reduce the amount of salt that you're putting into the environment," said Arnott.

The problem, however, lies in its toxicity, which is worse than road salt, Arnott added.

"Beets have a high amount of potassium, and potassium chloride is really toxic to aquatic organisms," said Arnott.

"There are all these sugars associated with the beet juice. Those sugars fuel bacteria, and then we see this huge drop in oxygen. Of course, oxygen is essential for aquatic organisms, and if you don't have enough oxygen, it's going to change the food web."

Walker noted that of the two de-icers, the variation with the magnesium and calcium chloride had less of an impact than the other in their studies.

"That would be one that might be explored, the magnesium chloride and calcium chloride. But that still doesn't get away from the fact that you're adding salts to the environment."

New Brunswick wetland may hold key to limiting effects of road salt runoff

So, if the idea of environmentally friendly de-icers is just a fairy tale, then what is the answer to dealing with the run-off of road salt every year? Well, New Brunswick may have stumbled upon the answer.

Earlier this year, results were released that showed a wetland connected to the City of Moncton's snow-disposal facility improved water quality. According to Ducks Unlimited Canada, chloride levels were reduced by 66 per cent to 93 per cent when comparing water samples from the inlet and outlet of the wetland.

"If we develop too close to these watercourses or [we] manipulate the system, then you start to get a decline in the ability for the the natural world to help clean these things up," said Adam Campbell, Ducks Unlimited Canada's manager of provincial operations for the Atlantic region, in a recent interview with The Weather Network.

A driving factor in the water quality improvement has been the dense vegetation in the channel leading to and within the pond, Campbell noted.

"It's quite shallow, which allows us to have a lot of emergent vegetation growing up through the surface of the water," said Campbell. "The more vegetation that comes into contact with the water, the more opportunity for absorption of nutrients. You can knock out sediment from suspension."

City of Moncton staff have been monitoring the water quality within the snowmelt collected by the wetland since 2014.

According to Ducks Unlimited Canada, run-off from municipal “snow dumps” can be particularly troublesome, and can contain gravel, salt and hydrocarbons from oil and gas, among other things.

The road salt in the snowmelt gets initially diluted by the water in the wetland, and then is absorbed by some of the plant species growing within it, acting as another source of pollutant removal, Campbell explained.

“The natural assets that wetlands provide are really impressive. The reality is we need to make sure that we maintain what we have because they're doing all of these services for us," said Campbell.

Even small doses of road salt affect aquatic species and landscapes

While the environmental effects of road salt have been widely documented, Arnott noted that aquatic organisms are affected even at levels "we thought [were] permissible."

"Any road salt is going to be bad. We know that it is toxic in aquatic environments. We have guidelines that allow for a little bit of it to go into the environment under the assumption that it's not going to have an impact on aquatic organisms," said Arnott.

The other concern with road salt is an increase in usage, another unintended consequence of climate change, Walker explained.

"As climate change occurs, we'll be pushing the window of where we can use salt farther and farther north. As far as I'm concerned, I haven't seen an eco-friendly de-icer that I would want to use, yet," said Walker.

As for the Moncton wetland project, Campbell said it should sustain itself for "quite a long time."

"We'll continue to monitor that and make sure that it's functioning the way it should," he said.

Meanwhile, Campbell wants to look for new opportunities and similar environmental projects to handle the snow, either in Moncton or adjacent to the city. Ducks Unlimited Canada has had a few municipalities reach out to it.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how that might lead to some more pond development on the landscape," said Campbell.

"We're just kind of scratching the surface here. There is likely some salt-tolerant vegetation along roadsides that can help out, and a combination of that and some wetlands might be a pretty cool path forward."

River guardians make strides in curbing salt pollution ahead of icy winter months - Capital Current

On the cusp of another frigid Ottawa winter, efforts are intensifying to reduce the use of de-icing road salt and prevent its toxic impacts on freshwater ecosystems.

Conservation agencies managing the watersheds of the Ottawa River’s two main tributaries on the Ontario side of the national capital — the Mississippi and Rideau rivers — are planning to impose new restrictions on salt use in the region.

This comes at a time when the Ottawa Riverkeeper advocacy group is stepping up its long-running campaign to curb the use of salt and monitor its effects on aquatic ecosystems.

The new policy amendments were proposed for the Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Plan, an initiative outlining municipal guidelines for the maintenance of clean drinking water. The plan specifically targets significant drinking water threats in areas near surface water intakes and groundwater wells. Among the planned regulations to curb the use and impact of road salt on the environment is a prohibition on storing quantities greater than 300 kilograms.

Sidewalks on Carleton University’s campus were scattered Nov. 28 with huge amounts of salt, just a few hundred metres from the Rideau River. The preventative salting was carried out despite a lack of snow or freezing rain. [Photo @ Raquel Medina]

Despite the lack of snowfall so far in November, road salt has preemptively begun to make its way onto many streets, sidewalks and pathways in the city. The highly anticipated La Niña winter is expected to bring colder and wetter weather, increasing the likelihood of icy conditions. This has many residents, landlords, businesses and public organizations stockpiling salt in preparation for a challenging season.

Despite various environmental initiatives propelling the use of alternatives such as sand and wood pellets to combat slippery surfaces, road salt continues to reign supreme as the go-to way of de-icing — for municipalities and city residents — during the wintertime.

So why exactly is it so bad?

Road salt, or sodium chloride, has been a staple of winter maintenance in Canada for generations. Due to its melting and softening effects on hard ice, road salt is widely considered the most trustworthy substance for de-icing. Cheap and abundant, salt has always been the most affordable solution to slippery sidewalks across the country.

But what price are Canadians really paying for drier, safer roads?

Studies done by Environment and Climate Change Canada have found that in sufficient concentrations, road salts present a significant risk to biodiversity and aquatic environments.

Rebecca Kolarich is the water program manager for Environmental Defence. Photo @ Environmental Defence.

“Chlorides from road salts is a really big concern within fresh waterways all throughout the province,” said Rebecca Kolarich, an Ontario-based water program manager with Environmental Defence, a national advocacy group dedicated to protecting Canada’s lakes and rivers. “These chlorides from salts can transform cool freshwater streams into warmer saltier environments that are toxic for many species and humans.”

Road salt entering waterways doesn’t just affect the stream it filters into, but also the broader web of aquatic ecosystems it’s connected to.

“It’s like death by a thousand cuts,” said Kolarich. “It truly is a domino effect. When one ecosystem gets kind of messed up, it really messes up everything else.”

By changing the chemical composition of the water, road salt can reduce biodiversity overall and disrupt essential life processes in fish, creating complications with reproduction and development.

“It’s not always as dramatic as all fish float to the surface of the water and they’re dead,” said Dr. Dalal Hanna, a freshwater ecologist and Carleton University professor. “It’s akin to us when there was a massive smoke event here last year, nobody felt good when they were outside. Suddenly, your environment becomes uninhabitable. If you’re in this environment that’s really stressful, you may not die, but you’re going to experience all these impacts on your ability to function normally.”

Dr. Dalal Hanna is a freshwater ecologist, and an associate professor at Carleton University. [Photo @ Alex Tran]

According to Lauren Lawson, a PhD candidate in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto, the negative effects of road salt don’t end with their impact on freshwater.

“Besides the water quality impacts,” said Lawson, “it can have really bad impacts on infrastructure, too.”

Excessive salt use can lead to the steady corrosion of metal. It’s also linked to increased rusting on infrastructure, a concern further emphasized by the scheduled replacement of the Alexandra Bridge across the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa. Commissioned reports reviewing the structural soundness of the 123-year-old link between Ottawa and Gatineau cited an exposure to salt as one of the reasons for its steady deterioration.

“People salt out of care for each other, because you want to keep people safe,” said Lawson, “but at the same time, we are putting at risk our freshwater ecosystems, our infrastructure, our cars, our pets’ paws — everything.”

The 123 year-old Alexandra Bridge can be seen over the Ottawa River. The bridge is expected to be replaced, with construction beginning in 2028. [Photo @ Raquel Medina]

In addition to infrastructure damage, salt-induced rusting can shorten the life of cars and trucks.

Krown Rust Control is a North America-wide vehicle-protection business that bills itself as a company “committed to continue developing environmentally friendly products that help improve the communities we live in.” The business specializes in rust prevention and solutions.

“Not only is the city using road salt,” said Taryn Almohammadi, manager at the Krown Rust Control shop on Catherine Street in Ottawa, “but they’re actually also using a brine, and the effects are tremendous. People are basically driving vehicles off the lot with rust already on them because of the conditions outside when they’re parked.”

Many advocacy organizations play a crucial role in pushing for a reduction in road salting practices across the city. Among them, Ottawa Riverkeeper is a leading voice for change with its comprehensive road salt monitoring program.

“People salt out of care for each other, because you want to keep people safe, but at the same time, we are putting at risk our freshwater ecosystems, our infrastructure, our cars, our pets’ paws — everything.”

— Lauren Lawson, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto

The program measures the concentration of sodium chloride in different waterways in the region, assessing how much road salt is being filtered into them, and how different ecosystems are being impacted.

The volunteer-led monitoring program began back in 2020, when volunteers were sent to collect samples from “trigger events” — including severe storms when salting was expected to occur — and bring them back for laboratory testing.

Volunteers assigned to specific creeks around the city would monitor their area following major snow or rainfall, and bring back samples to assess how much salt had run off into their waterway.

Over the last few years, the program has been steadily contributing to the Riverkeeper’s sample collection, now comprising five years’ worth of essential data identifying salty hotspots around the city. These are the places where there is especially voluminous salting activity. With this collection, the road salt monitoring program is now ready to usher in a new long-term phase of programming.

Following the expected publication of the Riverkeeper’s first five-year progress report in January 2025, the road salt monitoring program is set to expand its operations to implement consistent long-term monitoring, with volunteers to begin collecting samples every two weeks, regardless of weather conditions.

Another change to the program’s operations will see a shift in testing and collecting equipment, allowing volunteers to test chloride levels on-site by dipping chloride-detecting strips into the water, as opposed to sending samples to the lab.

This will allow the program to expand beyond the 35 sites currently being monitored across Ottawa and Gatineau and produce a better understanding of chloride concentrations in other areas.

Elizabeth Grater, Riverkeeper’s science programs coordinator, said the severity of the salt-pollution problem in the region has driven the expansion of the testing program.

Elizabeth Grater is the science programs coordinator for Ottawa Riverkeeper and runs their road salt monitoring program. [Photo @ Ottawa Riverkeeper]

“It’s really not just a winter problem. It is a year-round problem.” said Grater. “By putting those pollutants in these systems, they do find a way to come back to us.”

According to Grater, the damaging ecological effects of road salt in waterways cannot be understated, as they continue to impact a wide breadth of dependent ecosystems that humans benefit from every day. From biodiversity loss to harmful effects on drinking water — road salt puts much of what we take for granted at risk.

“A lot of people don’t feel as connected to the small creeks and even the Ottawa River,” said Grater. “They don’t think about how it can come back to them. It does. It does end up coming back and harming us.”

Snowplow tracking app launched to help Manitoba drivers plan winter driving routes

The new snowplow-tracking app shows updates on where snowplows are and where they have cleared roads in the past two hours.© CBC

Manitoba drivers can now plan safer winter highway travel based on which roads have been cleared after a storm, all at the click of an app.

The province on Friday launched Track My Plow, which shows real-time updates on where snowplows are and where they have cleared roads in the past two hours.

The feature is available as a smartphone app or through the Manitoba 511 website.

Combined with other travel information, such as descriptions of road conditions and closures, drivers can make informed decisions before heading out, saving time and improving safety, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said in a news release.

Planning your route is one of the most effective ways to avoid the dangers of being stranded and needing a tow, CAA Manitoba's Ewald Friesen said in the release.

Sarnia's winter maintenance season has begun, and with it the city has written plans for balancing road safety with keeping salt use in check.

Recommended by Environment Canada for municipalities using more than 500 metric tonnes of salt annually, the city's new salt management and winter operation plans detail how crews monitor the weather, patrol roads, and clear slippery conditions when needed.

“It's really putting down on paper what we're already doing, but this is the first time we've put together plans like this,” said city engineering and operations general manager David Jackson.

According to the plans, approved by council this week, Sarnia maintains more than 900 kilometres of roadways along 11 routes, and 168 kilometres of sidewalks, using a combination of local staff and contracted services.

Minimum standards for snow clearance on highways range from four to 24 hours, depending on how well used roadways are, and their speed limits.

Salt and sand-salt mixes are applied between 70 and 160 kilograms per kilometre, depending on snowfall, the plans say.

And the city monitors ground water, catch basin outlets and other areas, while keeping in touch with local water agencies, to monitor the impact of salt use, the plans say.

“We are exploring groundwater monitoring but do not have a program in place for that yet,” Jackson said.

Winters lately have been milder, meaning less salt, Jackson said.

About $1.1 million is budgeted for winter maintenance in the city's 2025 draft budget.

“Always hard to predict,” Jackson said.

“One large winter storm can come up and then we'd be right back on track for what the budget was.”

Switching to mostly pre-treated salt has also reduced salt use, saving Sarnia money and mitigating environmental impact, Jackson said.

“Generally that treated salt will stick to the road a bit better and it leaves a residual on the road, which helps start the melting cycle the next time,” he said.

The city's winter maintenance season is flexible, but generally runs Nov. 15 to April 15, the plans say.

Sarnia uses about 2,100 tonnes of the pre-treated salt on average per winter maintenance season, based on the last five, Jackson said.

Last winter maintenance season, 2,265 tonnes were used, he said.

“It is the best product to help keep the roads clear in the winter, so we do have to use it,” Jackson said.

The reason for the plans is “to analyze the whole process and to minimize the use as much as possible,” he said.

The plans will be reviewed annually, city officials said in a report, noting changes may include route updates or technological upgrades as needed.