Salt Runoff

[osprey]

Has there ever been a study done or any type of investigation into the effects of all the salt they dump on our snowy roads , that eventually ends up in the streams and rivers? Also i see now they are spraying some type of liquid on the roads before it snows to keep the snow from sticking i guess. Anyone know what that is?

 

[stonefly101]

I've seen roads up in New England that had signs saying that no salt would be used in such and such an area since it was in a key watershed. One would think there was a study related to those classifications.

 

[Maurice]

For trout salt is not a problem. Because trout are anadromus species, they can tolerate salt and in fact, salt is used to reduce stress in fish culture raceways. It does however have an impact on the freshwater community; crayfish, macroinvertibrate and minnows.

 

[afishinado]

Interesting subject. I didn't know that about trout, Mo. I googled the subject and came up with this info:

http://www.cee.vt.edu/ewr/environmental/teach/gwprimer/roadsalt/roadsalt.html

http://www.duluthstreams.org/understanding/impact_salt.html

 

[jayL]

stonefly101 wrote:
I've seen roads up in New England that had signs saying that no salt would be used in such and such an area since it was in a key watershed. One would think there was a study related to those classifications.

Just spotted this yesterday in two areas around Lowell, Mass. "Low salt area" warning signs, then sure enough, a sign for a stream passing under the road within a quarter mile.

 

[Maurice]

Those could also be local water supply areas.

 

[Acristickid]

Oh!

Now I know why city streets are unsalted.

It's in the name of conservation. hehe

 

[MattBoyer]

jayL wrote:
Just spotted this yesterday in two areas around Lowell, Mass. "Low salt area" warning signs, then sure enough, a sign for a stream passing under the road within a quarter mile.

Was it near a sign that said "you may get shot at any time in Lowell"? I got lost there once and called my buddy for directions and the first thing he said was "OMG get the hell out of Lowell!"

Boyer

 

[jayL]

It was on 495 and the area looked nice. Glad I didn't stop for lunch there...

All I knew about it was what I learned from the death cab for cutie song, which wasn't much.

I did learn that it's the home town of Jack Kerouac from the sign at the town border.

On the original topic, the stream was Fish Brook. If someone knows anything about it or its watershed, perhaps we could shed some light on the situation.

 

[whheff]

Afish, those links were very interesting and I didn't know that trout could tolerate salt. Thanks Mo for that info. At a place where I fish, the run off from the highway goes right into the stream. I always wondered if it affected the fish. Now I know.

The liquid that the trucks are spraying is a salt solution. It is to eliminate freezing conditions on the road surface. Hope you never get stuck behind one of those because you car will be completely covered in the spray from other cars.

The salt really does a corrosion job on our bridges.

 

[pcray1231]

Ashame the bridges weren't made with stainless to begin with. It costs a lot more upfront, but is worth it in the long run when you figure in maintenance and replacement costs.

It's still a minority, but a lot more of newer bridges use stainless for structure or rebar.

 

[osprey]

I'm renaming the pool right below the turnpike interchange at Bedford to the Halite pool and we are thinking of raising sardines.

 

[Squaretail]

I cant deny I've wondered about the "pre-treating" sprays since their increased induction to our roadways and the newly discovered "great fish migration" thats been happening on some of our streams.
The Muncy, Loyalsock, and then theres Fishing creek in Columbia Co. that come to mind.
Man they used to be good.

 

[osprey]

Squaretail.........yep , the first time i got behind one of those spray trucks the first thing that went through my mind was , this can't be good.

 

[salmonoid]

For my sixth grade science fair project, I raised sweet potatoes in water in mason jars, and added various substances to the water to determine the short and long term effect of the substance on the tater. One substance I added was liquid from a bucket of melted ice that I scooped of a cindered and salted road and I can report with some confidence that halides kill sweet potatoes. 🙂 It was for the same purpose as questioned originally - what is the effect of common items on growing items? Motor oil didn't work very well for sweet potatoes either (think of all the oil and detergent that gets washed off asphalt or concrete when it rains, and where it goes).

In addition to the spray trucks, there are bridges across the state that are equipped with automatic de-icing - essentially, if it gets cold enough to ice, and there is moisture in the air, there are sensors that spray the de-icer. When it runs off, through the drains in the bridge, most likely, it most likely drops into the streams or rivers below.