A real world environmental question

[Juniper]

Road salt has been demonstrated to adversely impact the watershed in which it is deployed by increasing salinity of aquatic environments (lakes and streams). This increase in density leads to stabilization of stratification in the affected water column. Drastic changes to the cycling and diffusion of nutrients in water at different depths leads to eutrophication (too many nutrients) and harmful algal blooms, as well as anoxia (no oxygen) throughout the bottom of the lake. The environmental and economic impact of these adverse effects are extraordinary. There exists no effective solution to slippery winter roads other than the use of road salt. By removing road salt programs, thousands more would die each winter in car accidents and serious declines in productivity would result during periods of heavy snowfall.


Solutions?

[Azerane]

You know, I suppose never having lived in a place where it snows, I never thought about it. But I can certainly understand how copious amounts amounts of salt spread around would impact growth of vegetation and waterways etc around it. Can't help you in regards to solutions though :p

[cleargreenwater]

Some places around here use sand, but then it clogs up the storm drains and sewers and those end up having to be flushed. So no, no easy answer.

Although I personally wonder why they haven't/don't manufacture personal home-size melters. They do exist, that's how they clean the runways at airports and congested places in cities where there isn't room for plows to just push it aside. They use a backhoe to dump the snow into the back of these big trucks that melts it into water and then runs the melt into the sewer via pumps and hoses.

Why they have snow blowers and ride-on lawn mowers but don't have home-equipment size melters is beyond me. Most people have a stormdrain/sewer grate at least *somewhere* by their house. And yeah it'd be more work lifting the shovels rather than just pushing them, but to get that crap permanently gone so you don't have to feel like you're living The Shining after a few weeks of deep winter and can see the sidewalk/pavement? I'd undertake the extra work lifting. On a larger scale, they could fill the big industrial size dumpsters with it all and bring it to a setup where it could be melted and pumped away.

When I lived in an apartment and only had the patio/balcony to worry about, I would put the snow in a 5 gallon paint bucket and fill the bathtub with it, spray it with hot water from the shower & open the drain.

I just refuse to believe they can't more permanently get rid of stuff that naturally melts other than throwing salt or sand on it when the machinery DOES exist.

[Shatara]

I dont think I've ever heard of these mythical 'melters'. Got a source?

Salt isn't for snow removal anyway, as the mounds of brown crap along the roads that don't go away until spring can attest to. It's used to de-ice the roads (and sidewalks, etc), and prevent such surfaces from icing in the first place. You really can't shovel ice, especially not preemptively. I don't think the railroads use salt, but I do know they have jet engines strapped to rail cars. Not the most suitable thing for home use.

I'd certainly love to hear an alternative though. In addition to all the environmental nasties Pnt mentioned, the damn stuff eats cars. Case in point, my dad bought a '78 Lincoln a few years back. Some guy had it stowed away in a barn. Now it's a molted, rotted piece of junk, sitting in the garage with its engine half-dismanteld, waiting to be sold for scrap because the frame is falling apart. Had a pretty nice '88 Bronco II that suffered a similar fate. Managed to get another one, but there are only so many 80something Bronco II's in the world.

[cleargreenwater]

I dont think I've ever heard of these mythical 'melters'. Got a source?

Ah, sorry, I lost power & didn't see this until now.

Yes, my stepfather. He was an on-call snowplow operator with a company contracted by the Port Authority to clear Newark International Airport. Newark is a very urban area, and snow removal is especially problematic because there just isn't foom for it, everything is pavement and roadways and city. He would plow to a location, bulldozers would scoop it up and dump it into the melters, and the waste water would be directed into a stormdrain. They're industrial equipment.

Ex:

http://www.michiganmelters.com/

One in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmDl_nETs8U

(...I didn't listen to the video, the speakers are off on my computer, so sorry if its a really cheesey ad.)


So yeah....they are out there, they're just an industrial secret for some reason. Why they can't or haven't thought of making scaled-down versions, I just don't understand.

[shadowland]

They could use grit instead? I'm sure that'd increase traction