Westmont, Illinois -- Date Issued: January 11, 2022
The Village of Westmont would like to remind residents about the importance of proper and responsible salt usage. According to a report from the Illinois State Water Survey, chloride concentrations in Illinois waterways have been steadily increasing since the 1960’s. Much of the increase can be attributed to road salts that are used in the winter to melt snow from sidewalks, driveways, and roads. These chlorides never fully dissipate when stormwater runoff carries road salt into storm drains and streams. Once in the water, there is no way to remove the chloride, which can become harmful for fish and plant life. It takes only one teaspoon of road salt to permanently pollute five gallons of water.
Below are some tips provided by the County of DuPage Stormwater Management Department to help ensure that we are all doing our part to address this situation:
- Remove snow prior to applying a deicer.
- Use just enough deicer to reduce safety hazards.
- Sweep up and properly store road salt after a snow storm for reuse.
- Use alternative methods, such as a beet juice derivative, to minimize the formation of ice.
- Use a hand-held spreader to apply a consistent amount.
- Use less than 4 pounds of salt per 1,000 square feet (an average parking space is about 150 square feet). One pound of salt is approximately a heaping 12-ounce coffee mug.
- Remember, more salt does not mean more melting.
- Share your knowledge with others about the impacts chlorides have on our local waterways.
“Each year, we specifically train our staff regarding the proper use of our programmable salt spreading equipment,” said Director of Public Works Mike Ramsey. “We strive to make sure that we only distribute the prescribed amount of salt for each lane per every mile of road treated.”
Ramsey also noted that the DuPage County Stormwater Department, the DuPage River Salt Creek Workgroup and the Lower Des Plaines Watershed Workgroup monitors local waterways on a daily basis to measure chlorides from road salt. For more information regarding proper snow and ice removal, please check out the following videos:
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