Problem
With the adoption of chloride deicer programs, the need to understand how those runoff chlorides migrate into the adjacent environment has presented an issue for planners in many organizations. The ability to understand how chloride deicers move, disperse in, or migrate through, varying soil types would help to identify sensitive areas that may need adjustment to chloride deployment rates to help protect public and private aquifers.
Objectives
The goal of this project is to provide winter maintenance teams with a thorough understanding of how sodium chloride, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride migrate through different soil textures – and how agricultural-based inhibitors affect that process.
Expected Results
The deliverables from this project – specifically a series of one-page fact sheets based on the results of a controlled testing program – will assist agencies in developing localized maintenance treatment plans.