How to get rid of ice using salt and environmental alternatives
By: Callum Denault
Published on: November 29th, 2024
Whether you love winter or despise it, one of the harsh realities of life in Canada is dealing with brutally cold temperatures. In most Canadian towns and cities, governments and residents use salt to break up ice on pavements for an easy commute to work and school.
But why is salt so commonly used, is it safe for the environment, and are there alternatives?
Ice and other wintery problems in Canada
There are several types of inconvenient or even dangerous weather patterns that happen during winter. These hazards include blizzards, freezing rain, cold temperature, and various conditions that reduce driving visibility.
Freezing rain is a common source of ice because it is a liquid high in the clouds before freezing on the ground during temperatures below 0°C. Ice pellets are raindrops that freeze before reaching the ground, creating hard precipitation. Ice and snow can lead to road closures and electricity outages by causing tree branches and power lines to fall under their weight.
The most dangerous type of ice is black ice, which, contrary to the name, is almost completely see-through. It forms when snow melts during the day, then re-freezes after the sun sets, creating a very thin yet also very hard and slippery layer of ice. Black ice is named for its tendency to look nearly identical to the black asphalt of the roads it covers. This makes driving especially dangerous since it is slippery yet harder to spot than normal ice.
In 2016, a study found that out of 654,000 hospital visits due to falling-related injuries, 8,800 people fell because of ice. Falling can be a serious or even deadly injury for older adults and children, with injuries to the hips, legs, and head being the most common. Twenty to 40 per cent of older individuals who injure their hip from a fall end up passing away.
What is road salt and how it works
Road salt, or rock salt, is the same kind of salt pulled out of mines to use in cooking, except it is treated differently to suit a separate purpose. Unlike table salt, road salt is not refined, meaning it still has mineral impurities, sometimes giving it a grey or brown colour.
Salt lowers the freezing temperature of water it binds with. This makes it ideal for preventing ice from gathering on sidewalks and roadways and breaking up ice that has already formed. Unfortunately, as great as road salt is for getting rid of pesky ice, it tends to seep into the surrounding environment. This causes problems for wildlife by raising the saltiness of local water sources.
Despite being chemically similar to table salt, road salt is not edible because of the mineral impurities and anti-caking agents that are often added to make it easier to store. It is also not iodized. Just as you wouldn’t waste your healthy, delicious, and more expensive table salt by pouring it on an icy sidewalk, you shouldn’t cook with road salt. Both have their own purposes.
Alternatives to using salt
Some local governments like using other de-icing methods that do not involve contaminating the environment with unnatural amounts of salt. Oddly enough, sand and beet juice are the most popular alternatives to road salt.
Sand is often added to roads to increase the friction that vehicles get while driving. However, it can easily be blown away by anything driving 40 kilometres per hour or faster, and it is often still cut with road salt out of necessity.
Beet water is a saline solution, which is water mixed with salt that contains less sodium than just spreading raw chunks of salt on the ground. While saline brings the freezing water temperature to -7°C, the sugar in beet juice lowers this temperature even further. Beet juice is also sticky enough to keep too much salt from running off with the melted water.
What is the best way to get rid of ice?
Sand is not a good option for removing ice from your personal property or local sidewalks since it is only used for vehicles and blows away easily. A thin layer of beet juice can be placed on a sidewalk since sugary saline can prevent water from freezing.
Some American governments are looking into using the leftover brine from cheesemaking and pickle factories as a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to road salt. However, in Canada, you will most likely find that road salt is cheaper, easier to find, and more effective than saline, such as beet water.
Sometimes, black ice formation is outside your control, like if it rains and freezes while everything is still wet or if fog condenses into ice. However, shovelling snow and slush off of any roads or sidewalks you intend to use is still a reasonable way to ensure nothing can melt and refreeze into a slippery hazard.
Ultimately, your priority should be to adopt the cheapest, easiest, and most effective option of keeping ice off your property and local roads. The government should continue exploring environmentally friendly alternatives to ice removal. Until then, it is most practical to use road salt than leave ice around and risk it causing an accident.