Wisconsin Salt Awareness Week: How to reduce salt pollution

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS58) -- When you throw down salt, you might not think about where it ends up.

"Throughout your community, you have storm sewers. If you live in a city with curbs and gutters, anything you put on your sidewalks, driveways, is going to run off and ultimately get into the closet body of water," Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources Storm Water Section Manager Shannon Haydin said.

Every year, to educate the public, Wisconsin Salt Wise commemorates "Wisconsin Salt Awareness Week."

The organization stresses it only takes 1 teaspoon of salt to pollute 5 gallons of water to a level that is toxic for freshwater ecosystems.

"Our water has been getting saltier and saltier. Especially in the last 70 years as we've really ramped up the use of salt on roads, parking lots, and sidewalks," Wisconsin Salt Wise Program Manager Allison Madison said.

The salt is changing not only our water but its inhabitants.

"A freshwater fish can't survive in salt water," Haydin said. "Ultimately, our fisheries are smaller, we have fewer fish, and the fish themselves don't get as big. That's what we're learning from studies recently."

Fish are not the only beings feeling the sodium.

"If you are on a low salt diet, you may be inadvertently drinking salt and bringing that into your diet in a way you hadn't intended to," Haydin said.

What is the right amount of salt? Wisconsin Salt Wise recommends using a coffee mug full of salt for a 20-foot driveway or 10 sidewalk squares.

The less is more motto when it comes to salt is something local municipalities have started doing to reduce their salt output.

"We're looking at 10, 15-year averages, we used to go out with more salt, and a lot heavier usage of salt," City of Milwaukee Sanitization Area Manager Jeffery Smith said. "Obviously, over time, we found out you can reduce that amount and still keep public safety at a premium as well."

Another way Wisconsin Salt Wise says you can lessen the amount of salt you need is by shoveling snow as it falls. For a winter salting guide, CLICK HERE.