Road salt, or chlorides, are a known pollutant that can permanently impact our waterbodies, leading to decreased freshwater fish populations and salty-tasting drinking water. The City is committed to decreasing the amount of chlorides applied to our roads, while still maintain safe driving conditions.
Last year, the City received a grant from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization to purchase brine application systems for some of our plow trucks. The brine application systems allow the City to use “pre-wetted” salt, which works faster than dry salt and doesn’t bounce outside of the application zone, allowing the City to use less salt more effectively. Over the next few years, the rest of our fleet will add this equipment and transition to the brine system as vehicles are scheduled for replacement.
The City also installed electronic application systems which will allows the drivers to better control how much salt is applied. It is expected that these improvements will allow the City to reduce salt use by at least 30 percent. Our snow plow drivers are Level 1 Smart-Salting certified by the MPCA and our department is Level 2 Smart-Salting certified.
You, too, can make a difference in reducing chlorides in our water bodies by doing your part to minimize salt usage or using salt substitutes. Tips are available by visiting FridleyMN.gov/Stormwater.